Changing the past, for a better future
by ApocalypticFang
Summary: The Black Mage has succeeded, the world is now plunged in darkness. The heroes are gone except for one young boy, the transcendent(s) of time sends him back to the beginning to change everything but will he succeed? Time travel AU, Heroes-Centric fic.
1. Prologue

**Haha hey there~**

**My name is fang~ Maplestory caught my interest so i thought this fic would be interesting~**

**Edit: Oh and an important note, this is what takes place after Zero storyline and also the Black Mage has been reincarnated into the transcendent of life because (In here) that was his goal with the mirror world and not actually the same with canon.**

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A young brunette stood in front of four graves with tears in his eyes never seeming to stop. They…...had lost, they weren't able to stop _his_ plans of evil they couldn't prevent it at all. He had only survived because his mentor, Phantom pushed him out of the way and managed to let him escape.

"_You mustn't die yet. You must continue on and fight, for you are his final legacy, live and be strong. My role and promise ends here."_

In the end his mentor could still sound cliché as he passed on. The other heroes died because they were not able to defend as they fell into a trap and could only watch as _that man _came to deal them the final blow. The world is now _his _domain and no one dared to stand up to _him_. The Cygnus knights, the resistance, the nova, the adventurers were all wiped out, only himself remaining.

Beside the boy was his trusty partner and the new transcendent(s) of time, Alpha and Beta. "We only have one shot, the future is doomed but perhaps the past can change. Only you can do that, their wish, their will, you must inherit it and proceed forward."

"….But what about the barrier they made with so much sacrifice?" Alpha shook his head "That barrier had been shattered when _he_ resurrected, we can send you back with ease. _He_ cannot follow since he no longer holds the power of time. Will you accept this task?"

With nothing to lose, the young boy nods his head with resolve and with a blinding light, him and his partner were gone.

"Good luck…." Beta whispers. Alpha pulls her wrist as they exit the sacred holy graves. "We need to make preparations, I'm sure the black mage has already found out about what we've done."

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**Please review~**


	2. Chapter 1

The young boy awoke, his eyes immediately darting to various places, his senses alert. It was…peaceful. The greenery was beautiful, something he hasn't seen for a very long time. His partner nudged him up "Master, I think we're in Henesys." The boy nodded, the fields were familiar to him after all. He pulled out a black cloak and wore it, the edges of it was printed with a line of two small dragon wings, the sign of his profession and also…..the final gift from his mentor. He pulled down the hood and let it cover his eyes.

"Come on, we have a future to change." _Wait for me guys. I'll change the future, i swear._

XXX

Phantom didn't know why, he just had a feeling something would happen very soon. But what would it be? The blonde shook his head as he appeared in front of his new love, Aria. "Back again I see." The empress said with a giggle.

"Perhaps only to gaze at your beauty." Phantom immediately took her hand and brushed his lips on her knuckle, making her blush much to the thief's satisfaction. "Are you sure its not for the jewel?"

"Hmm~ Now then it could be. For I only see one jewel in front of me." The empress chuckled softly as she strolled in her garden before sitting down on a bench there, Phantom following suit "A charmer as always Phantom." The thief said nothing as he presented her with a red rose, her favorite. "Ah but you love me the way I am."

"Yes indeed I do." She leaned on Phantom's shoulder as she glanced at the night sky. "Phantom, do you feel like something is about to happen?"

"You mean like us getting married?" Phantom purred and Aria hit him gently. "Be serious now. This could merely be a prelude to a horrible storm." Phantom didn't manage to answer as Aria's trusted attendant, Neinheart came yelling for the empress.

"Mi'lady! Oh where could she be!" Phantom stood and gave a curt bow with a whisper of his promise to be back before disappearing in a flurry of cards.

XXX

The first thing the young boy did was to find out the date and was shocked upon finding out. "But…..this was around the time empress Aria had…." A sudden thought came to mind, he was already trying to change the past why not change it into something better? The boy dashed back to where his partner was hidden "Are you ready partner? We need to rush to Ereve pronto." The hidden beast nodded and they immediately took off.

XXX

Aria sat in a crowded room filled with her closest advisers. "Empress, things are getting out of hand! The civilians are very worried and the black mage has already announced that he would attack Ereve should we not surrender! Please reconsider! We need to mount up a suitable defense and a reasonable attack force! This….meeting they've arranged is nothing more than a trap!"

Aria only could shook her head "No, if they are willing to negotiate terms peacefully I have no qualms. We should not always think that violence is the first thing that comes up when something happens."

"Please Empress! You should know that talking things out would work little against them!" Aria gave a firm stare "No we will negotiate and that is final." The advisers could only nod in agreement albeit very reluctantly. Aria gave a sigh of relief once the meeting has ended, she immediately went to the top of the palace where she knew Phantom was.

"That was a rather naïve decision is it not?" and there that man's soothing voice was. "Do you think its naïve? My thought of wanting peace?" She closed her eyes as she felt footsteps and a warm embrace. "Its not the thought of peace that I find naïve it's the fact you're risking so much to obtain it. Do you honestly think that they wouldn't just abandon any thoughts of negotiating at a moments notice when they see an opportunity to breach your defense?"

Aria turned her head around slightly "So you _were_ at the room to hear our supposedly private discussion." Phantom just chuckled "Yes, but I have to relocate a few safes tomorrow and check them. I'll give you something that you can call me when you are in danger, I'll come as soon as I can." The warmth then disappeared and Aria found another rose and a carte resting on her palm.

XxX

"I'm afraid that these terms are far too one-sided, mister Lotus. If you cannot agree to the minimum which is the civilians safety then this deal isn't possible." Aria stated with a frown, the terms were only to benefit the black mage not the citizens of Ereve which was her top and utmost priority. Lotus smirked as he rested his head on his palm.

"Well….Negotiations are off then." He snapped his fingers and his escorts immediately charged forward, weapon aiming for the Empress only to be parried by Chromile. "Empress please make haste! You must escape, I'll hold them for as long as I can." Neinheart escorted Aria out dashing through the hallways and towards Shinsoo. "Mi'lady please wait here I will back up Chromile." Aria couldn't protest as Neinheart immediately dashed out. Her fingers unintended brushed against the Carte Phantom gave and felt it disappear.

Phantom knew something was very wrong. And it was only confirmed when the Carte he had given to Aria came back to him in a form of a crow. He didn't care about anything else as he disappeared using shroud walk to the nearest possible place Aria would be in. "Aria! Where are you?!" Phantom ran into every place he knew where Shinsoo could be resting only to find it empty. The thief gritted his teeth. '_Let me make it time!'_

Aria stared in horror as Lotus walked in by himself. But it wasn't her life she feared for, if Lotus was here, what of Neinheart and Chromile? Shinsoo immediately casted a magic barrier and felt it easily dissipate. "No can do Shinsoo. Black mage has already given something to me to get rid of those annoying powers you have, though only temporarily it'll do."

"Stay back foul one!" Shinsoo stood to attack but Lotus was small and worst of very agile. The commander easily dodged the attacks and used every opportunity to counter attack, leaving the holy beast in battered state. Aria gasped and tried to run to Shinsoo side only to be stopped and shoved down by Lotus. "Farewell Empress, this is where you exit the stage." Lotus took out a dagger and swung it down with full force.

Only for it to be knocked away by a large Fireball.

Lotus yelped in pain and immediately doused the fire. "Damn it who is it!" Aria gasped as a hooded figure descended from what looks to be a dragon and leaped off, the empress could see a glimpse of brown hair and blue eyes as the cape swished in the wind. The figure said nothing as he lifted a wand and pointed it at Lotus, the dragon he came with charged at the signal but Lotus brought out his own weapon and felt the dragon easily snap it into two as a tail came and smacked him away. Lotus did a back flip and landed on the ground.

"It doesn't matter, just one more pest to take care of. Either way, the Empress will die today-" The commander gasped as something pierced and stab him countless of times mercilessly. Lotus used what energy he had to tilt his head to the side only to be met with enraged Amethysts orbs. "Aria will live, but you my friend will not." Phantom gripped Lotus's wrist tightly enough to prevent the commander from escaping while bringing back his cane and transformed it into a thick dagger, immediately thrusting it straight to Lotus's heart, twisting it before pulling it out slowly, causing a large amount of blood to splatter on his expensive clothing.

Phantom was about to continue torturing the body but Aria's fearful sobs stopped him. The thief dropped the corpse and his cane before running towards Aria and embraced her as he felt her cry into his blood-stained suit. "Its alright, I'm here. Thank god I'm on time." Aria lifted her head to reveal teary eyes and nodded.

"Wait, where was that hooded man? If not for him to buy you time, I would have….." Phantom turned and just as she had said, the man was gone.

XXX

The young boy fled, to as far a place as his partner could bring him and felt his partner nudge him shortly after touchdown. "Its alright Mir, I should be fine after awhile….."

"But Master, that was…."

"I know, but we still have the others to look out for. He may be my mentor, but not the one that knows me."

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**Please review~**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey there~**

**Kyliegurl13- Haha sorry if it wasn't clear in the prologue and Chapter 1 but Evan traveled into the _past_ to change it. In the past, before the Black Mage was sealed, Freud and Aria were both alive but Evan is there because he was sent there to change it. Evan is the 'hooded individual' that helped Aria but the others just don't know it yet.**

**Now then~ on with the chapter!**

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It had been a week since Aria was attacked. After assuring her advisers nothing was wrong and letting them take care of the repairs on the palace could she finally start to move around again. She had healed Shinsoo with her powers and the holy beast was currently resting at a sunny spot. Phantom had left for about three days before returning, but now he followed her everywhere. Aria didn't mind at first but honestly its scaring everyone when he lets unsuppressed blood thirst towards anyone who comes within ten foot distance. Aria had just picked flowers to place at Chromile's grave, recalling the tragic news of her most faithful and brave knight.

"_Mi'lady you are safe! Thank the transcendents!" Neinheart looked around to see if there are injuries but breathe a sigh of relief when there were merely cuts and minor injuries. "Yes I'm fine, but what of Chromile?" Neinheart looked away. "I'm afraid, that he…." Neinheart closed his eyes and stepped aside to reveal a heavily injured and bloody corpse._

"_Oh Chromile….." Aria sobbed as she covered her face with her palms. Phantom could only watch as he hid in the shadows, hoping his presence could give her silent support._

"Phantom could you please restrain your killing intent? Its scaring people." She could hear the thief chuckle. "That is the point Aria." Aria wanted to sigh, no one could be more over-protective than Phantom. "Phantom, not everyone who wants to talk to me about diplomatic matters is out to kill me you know."

"You may never know, I would not let the same mistake happen twice." Aria rested on her large bed and petted the space beside her. Phantom appeared in a flurry of cards but Aria was stunned at how much lack of sleep the thief had. "Phantom, when was the last time you had proper rest?"

Phantom rubbed his eyes "I had an hour or two of resting time before waking up yesterday." Aria looked pissed. "Phantom, sleep now."

"But something could-"

"You're being paranoid. No one would be after my life every hour of every day. I'll wake you up if something does happen alright?" That seemed to assure the thief as he instantly feel asleep…..on her bed. Aria giggled as she locked her room and snuggled next to Phantom, the news she found about the hooded man could wait.

XXX

Phantom woke up feeling like he was reborn. He looked to the right and let a gentle smile appear on his face as he brushed aside a few blonde locks on Aria's face. The empress stirred from her sleep. "Morning sleeping beauty." Aria smiled "You're one to talk?" she joked. "Touché Empress."

"…Phantom yesterday I didn't manage to say but the hooded man's description from what I know is similar to Freud, he might even _be _the hooded man. I've sent a request to see him." Phantom nodded and filed the information away before snuggling back to bed, the outside sky was still dark, important matters could wait till later when he could focus better.

XXX

Evan spread out a map as his eyes glanced from area to area. "I think Luminous is out of reach now. The next choice would be Aran or Mercedes but maybe Freud has contacted both of them already-"

"_Child….._" Evan's eyes widened as he twisted around while Mir stood in a offensive stance, only to meet with Rhinne, the current transcendent of time. Evan and Mir immediately gave a curt bow. "_My apologies for startling you, but I have something to tell you. In the future, he is forgotten but here he is a powerful warrior. Seek him out and point him in the right direction. He's the final hero and the one that has sacrificed the most in creating the time barrier._"

"There was a sixth hero?!" Evan exclaim in shock, how come he has never heard of him? "Wait, how do you even know about what is to come?" Rhinne gave a sad smile. "_Child, I could foresee the future for it is within my realm. With the help of Alpha and Beta I've managed to piece together what has happened. As for the last hero, in order to create enough energy for the barrier to even function, he gave up his existence. All of it, which is why no one knows who he is in the future. But you are here to try to change that no?"_

"Of course! Please, could you tell me his name?"

"_Yes. The pirate who wields spirits along side his weapon, his name is EunWol. You will find him at a harbor._" Evan gave a excited smile, one Mir hasn't seen since Phantom had passed away in the future. "I'll go meet him then!"

"_Before you do take this,_" Evan glanced at the crystal that's being handed to him. "_I believe one of your friends is in Aurora? This might help you in getting there. I'm afraid that's all I can do._" Evan shook his head "No you've done plenty thank you Transcendent Rhinne." Rhinne gave a smile before disappearing. Evan wore his cloak before hopping onto Mir "Well we're off to Naulitus Harbor then, he's probably there seeing its currently the biggest harbor. Lets go Mir!" Mir gave an equally excited roar and took off into the sky.

XXX

EunWol hefted a heavy crate and placed it on the other side of the ship "That's all?" The captain gave a grateful huff "Aye' Thanks Lad! Those land lovers can't even do this tiny task correctly. I'll give em' what's for when they get back!" EunWol gave a amused chuckle "Just not too hard. You still need someone to man the ship." The captain agreed and laughed out loud as he handed a small sack of meso to the young pirate. "A little tip. Its comin' out of them crew anyways." EunWol gave a thankful smile before leaving the ship.

The Naulitus harbor was his home and he would do everything he could to defend it. But recently the Black Mage has influenced monsters to attack the harbor, well he had already dealt with most of them including the leader of the monsters around these parts but still….the feeling that something is about to happen is making him uneasy.

XxX

Evan had forgotten something important. Despite wanting to greet and introduce himself to the sixth hero, he couldn't show his face, he had to be discreet as long as he could. But what exactly did Rhinne mean when she said that he needed to guide him? Perhaps to Freud? But how?

Firstly, as his mentor once told him he had to catch the other's interest. Directing the sixth hero's attention to Freud was easy, the two from what the young brunette knew had an uncanny resemblance after all. But what would capture EunWol's attention to make him seek out Freud?

"Hmm…" Evan continuously pondered about it, Mir glanced up to his partner who sat on the saddle pondering. He could literally see smoke coming out of Evan's ears as he thought hard, the dragon could not help but sweat drop.

"Master, why don't we go see how the sixth hero is like first. Maybe we'll find something?" Evan gave a bright smile as he hugged his partner. "You're a genius Mir! I don't know what I'll ever do without you!" the dragon laughed and gave a short speech on how Evan would be lost without a 'great mighty dragon' to help before continuing to their destination. Evan could not help but notice a small army of monsters who seem to be gathering in the forest for some reason.

XXX

The first thing the brunette did was to find out who exactly was EunWol, he had not been given any description on the man besides his name. Evan was quite happy that he managed to find the last hero without any problems at all, the pirate was famous around the harbor for being helpful and kind which immediately put him in his good book.

Another thing that Evan found rather expected was his strong sense of justice and his ideals to defend the weak. The mage saw the pirate sock some thugs in the nose and easily sent them flying when they even _attempted_ to pick on a young little girl. Evan was liking this man by the minute though the boy wondered whether taking EunWol from Naulitus would leave this place rampant with thugs. The harbor _was_ filled with pirates.

However by sunset one thing Evan knows is, he hasn't gotten a suitable plan on getting EunWol to confront Freud yet.

XXX

For a few days now, EunWol could feel someone watching him. At first he waved it of as a figment of his imagination but its been days and his instincts kept on telling him that someone was _indeed_ watching him. By then, the pirate already felt frustrated because being watched was not a nice feeling at all. So on the fourth day afternoon, he deliberately went into a secluded place not far from the harbor. "I know you've been watching me, could you please come out." Evan almost yelped at being found out like that, he knew he was only decent in stealth but still….Evan shook his head, what did his mentor say about stuff like this?

"_If you've been discovered then just calmly walk out, give a joking smile applaud him from finding you and make a nice escape half-way talking, the person would often to not expect you to finish what you're saying first."_

'That only works for him!' Evan groaned. On second thought, listening to that advice would only get him skewered.

Luckily or unluckily actually, an explosion occurred and screams were heard. Evan saw EunWol tense and was about to dash back, the brunette instantly mounted Mir and swooped down on the long haired pirate, the man struggled to get out of Mir's claws until he realized they were doing no harm. "And who might you be?" EunWol asked as politely as possible. "An ally, me flying you back to the harbor is quicker then you dashing there."

"And I should trust a shady guy with a hood while riding a dragon?" Evan gave a cheeky smile, acknowledging what EunWol said but made no move to remove his cloak. "I wouldn't either but if I had been helping the enemy then I wouldn't be bringing you in the direction of the harbor now would I?" EunWol couldn't help but agree to that. "You seem really strange. First you stalk me, then when time comes you rush and willingly offer your aid knowing fully well that when we land I could just stab you in the back."

"You wouldn't do that, I've been 'observing' you(not stalking!)and you aren't like that. But chat later, we've arrived." Evan motioned Mir to dive in to the horde and the dragon immediately dived and expertly released EunWol, the pirate landed on the ground with no injuries as if he did that all the time. The sudden entrance stunned the monsters who recovered quickly to attack the new target.

Evan noticed that it was the same small gathering of monsters that he saw in the forest a week ago. The boy watched with amazed eyes as the pirate dispatched monster after monster even lifting one and tossed it towards the other monsters as if it was nothing! Without intending to, he charged in and leaped off Mir. The dragon went wild on the other monsters while helping the fleeing citizens.

"I wasn't expecting you to help." EunWol stated as he kicked one on the head and ducked a blow before twisting to slam his fist on the stomach of another. EunWol's weapon made the attacks a lot more painful as his knuckle dug deep into flesh. "I couldn't let you face them alone, they'll over power you with numbers at some point." Evan materialized a crossbow gun* and fired repeatedly with highly accurate aim while those that got too close had their forehead sliced off with a carte*.

As busy as EunWol was he couldn't help but be amazed by the unique fighting style the boy had, the hooded man continued to switch styles, his weapon looked like it was made out of pure mana and glowed except for his staff. The pirate noticed that each time Evan moved he could catch a glimpse of his brown hair and blue eyes which looked sad and lonely as if he was experiencing something painful. EunWol frowned, a boy shouldn't be carrying such an expression.

They soon found themselves back to back completely exhausted, but they had won the battle. "I thought…..they wouldn't come back anymore. I had already dealt with their leader, who knew they re-grouping for another attack. Judging by how desperate they seem, this was probably their final attempt." Evan nodded wordlessly as he checked on Mir to see if the dragon had injuries.

"…..You seem to be hiding something. Something that makes you hurt, want to share it with me?" Evan gave a sad smile "I can't." The pirate seemed very upset about this, he wanted to do something to soothe his pain at least! "Then could you tell me about yourself at least?"

"I'm….looking."

"Looking?"

Evan nodded. "You see, 'I' am looking for allies. I told you I was your ally but I never said _you_ had to be my ally. The Black Mage, he influences these attacks, causes monsters to be ballistic. _That_, is why I'm looking for allies, to stop the Black Mage." EunWol looked shocked but then smiled.

"So I'm not the only one with crazy ideas like stopping the black mage? That's good news. Well, can I join?"

"Definitely. But first you have to find me."

"…Why find you when you're already before me?"

Evan hesitated for a second before answering. "That's because its….a test." The pirate didn't look like he believed the reason at all. Evan immediately hopped onto Mir and left in a rush all the while staring at the amused face of the sixth hero.

"A test huh? Let the 'test' begin then."

XXX

"Master, why did you tell me not to talk back then? I could have helped you convince him. He didn't look like he believed you at all when you said it as a test." Mir whined.

"Well, it was to be discreet...What I did say about stopping the Black Mage is true though." Evan explained.

Now then, what would be next best move?

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**Haha~ Alright some explanations are in order.**

**When i meant in the 'prologue' that Evan had to inherit their wills, this was what i meant. In this fic, Phantom is Evan's mentor, he would have taught the boy one thing or two about his skills as did Aran and Luminous.**

**But what about Mercedes? Isn't hers related to something spirits blessed her with? Yes you're right, but Mercedes gave the same blessing to Evan because she felt that the boy would be worth it.**

**Anyways~ Please review or if you want, you can PM me about questions on this fic~**


	4. Chapter 3

"Pardon but I've not met your highness since the large gathering of scholars last month. I've not set foot in Ereve until now." Freud explained with a genuine look of confusion on his face. Aria placed down her teacup gently but with a similar puzzled expression. "But you're the only one with a spirit pact with the great Onyx dragon king Afrien. The appearance also matches up." Freud nodded in understanding.

"Yes, from what you have told me it appears so. However a month ago when the attack happened, I was with the chief of Rien, Aran and a week later, Elf Queen Mercedes. I could not be here and there at the same time, flying would only get me so far especially when I'm no where near your area, in fact, I was about to stop by at the harbor for supplies before you contacted me and I made abrupt changes to get here." Phantom who was quiet up till now was observing Afrien's scale and brushing it much to the dragon's dislike.

"Aria dear I think he speaks the truth. The dragon that the hooded individual brought with him had younger and newer scales while Afrien had been worn out _slightly_ from what looks to be training and battling. The size is also much different." Freud looked amazed and impressed at the same time. "That is correct, we've been practicing on several techniques. Might I inquire as to who you are? You seem knowledgeable about the quality of something."

Phantom gave a short glance at Aria who nodded her head, a sign that told the thief to go ahead with introductions "Right, I believe you've heard of me. I'm Phantom pleased to meet you." realization dawned on Freud's face, no wonder Afrien didn't like him at first glance "Never thought I meet the master thief himself, I suppose I can piece two and two together and assume you've not obtained the 'jewel' you're after?" there was a twinkle in Freud's eye as he said that.

Phantom immediately knew what he was talking about "Ah yes. A knowledgeable one indeed, I see why you're a scholar." Aria seemed oblivious to this exchange and cleared her throat gaining the two's attention. "My apologies, it appears we've strayed from the topic at hand." Afrien who was quiet all this time finally spoke up "Freud, since the 'hooded individual' is supposedly similar to you, if he wanted attention would he have not used your name? It should be quicker."

The group listened and agreed at what Afrien had said. Freud turned to answer his friend's question "Indeed, which can only mean he wants to be discreet. But that probably won't be enough to let us know what he's planning so the question now is, what is his motive? There _must _be something he's after."

Aria sighed "We don't know, but I find it odd that he knew that I would be in trouble at that time and place to come down at the perfect moment." There was a silence.

"Empress, another matter I've been meaning to ask, what are you planning to do about the black mage?" Aria's eyes seem to become sad at this. "I'm afraid we can't do anything at the moment. The Knights have become afraid, they think that fighting isn't possible since the best knight we have, Chromile has died in battle. The people have settled on living while hoping that we can defend, they want nothing to do with the Black Mage."

"However Freud, I've heard of a small rumor about you. Something about gathering allies to combat the Black Mage. Are you serious about that?" Freud gave a determined smile "Most definitely, I've managed to gather the help of Chief Aran and Elf Queen Mercedes."

Phantom gave a chuckle "Those are some powerful people there. Want to add to the list? I don't mind helping." Freud and Aria both turned to him in shock, Freud was the one who spoke first. "I wonder Phantom, do you have any ulterior motives about this?"

"It depends on your meaning of ulterior motives. If the Black Mage is gone, then dear Aria would not worry so much." Phantom gave a rather dark chuckle before his eyes turned serious "I wouldn't let the world she cares so much about die." Freud turned to Afrien who gave the thief a look of new found respect, the mage had instantly come to a decision.

"Welcome on board Master Thief Phantom." Aria never looked more speechless before in her entire life and Phantom chuckled at the expression, mentally saving it into his memory.

XXX

EunWol had first searched in Leafre. He had been told that that was the only town who co-existed with dragons and was biggest clue. The pirate had went to the chief first to see if there was any information that he could obtain, and if his hunch was right, he should find something there.

"A person with brown hair, blue eyes and a dragon? Well that could only be one person dear stranger, I'm sure you've been looking for Freud. He is the only one to make a pact with the onyx dragon Afrien and Afrien follows him everywhere." Bingo.

"Then do you know where he's currently at sir?" EunWol asked politely. The chief of Leafre thought long and hard before something clicked in his mind. "Ah, yes! He said something about visiting Chief Aran and then Lady Mercedes. I suggest you look for them, when Freud goes out somewhere that far he doesn't come back for over a month." EunWol nodded and said his thanks before leaving.

Well, at least he could experience different places, he always wanted to as a child and now he had a reason to.

XXX

Evan contemplated on going to who next. He first had to find out who Freud has come in contact to. If he remembered right, Phantom had mentioned how Freud's research area was in Leafre. He could search there first, maybe chief Tatamo knows something.

Just as he lands near Leafre three days later, of all his luck he _almost_ bumped into EunWol. He had kept as still as possible and not even breathed when the pirate walked on the road near him. The pirate looked at his direction and Evan felt his heart stop. EunWol just shrugged and went back to walking on the path, when he was sure the pirate was far away, he let out the biggest sigh of relief.

"That was close….Mir could you stay here?" Mir nodded and crouched down, hidden in the shadows. Evan then continued walking on the path and soon reached Leafre, he easily located chief Tatamo and immediately walked towards him, pulling the hood lower then before.

"Greetings Chief Tatamo." the chief turned towards him with a gentle smile. "Oh hello there stranger! My we have lots of visitors these days!" Evan gave a smile of his own. "Yes indeed, Leafre is becoming more prosperous. Not to change the subject chief but do you know where the scholar Freud is?"

"Oh my, he's getting more famous as well! Just now another stranger asked about his whereabouts, I told him that Freud went to see Chief Aran and Lady Mercedes." Just Aran and Mercedes? What about Luminous?

"Did Freud mentioned to you about meeting a fellow mage?"

"Can't say he has. Who are you to Freud anyway? You look slightly different then the guests he usually has." Evan needed to think about an answer an quick! "Ah, I'm an acquaintance. I, um needed to check with him about something."(Evan slightly cursed, he still sucked at lying) But Tatamo bought it and nodded in understanding "Oh yes, many does that since he's wise for his age I myself do as well."

"Well I better go find him then. See you chief Tatamo."

"Take care stranger!"

XXX

"Mir, Freud hasn't met Luminous yet do we go to Luminous or will he go to Freud naturally?" Mir shrugged.

"I don't know Master. Luminous doesn't say much about how he came to know the others but there was one girl he kept mentioning…..Luna? No, Tuna? No…."

"Lania, Mir." Then Evan remembered something, Lania had told him without Luminous knowing that she had once lived before but her name wasn't Lania it was…"Lucia! Oh god Mir we might be able to save her! Lets go to Aurora!"

XXX

Luminous was confused. Lucia kept on growing further apart from him, it was like she was fearing something but not for herself but for him. The serenity mage always knew that the girl he loved was far too selfless "Lucia, what seems to be the matter?"

"Luminous…I-I feel like something terrible is going to happen." Luminous quickly embraced the girl and felt her sobbing into his robes, her tears wetting it, but he didn't care. "Its alright, I'm here. Forever and always." Lucia looked up her eyes still teary, "How do you say that with such conviction? Anything could happen!"

Luminous didn't manage to answer before his teacher came in "Luminous run! The Black Mage has come for you!" The light mage seemed stunned, for him? Why? "Lucia did you know?"

"I was told that the Black Mage was after you. But I don't want to lose you Lumi! I can't….!" His teacher was urging him to hurry, "You don't have the magic it takes to nullify that putrid black magic! Hurry flee!" Luminous seemed to find that idea horrifying "And leave you here alone?!" the black magic started seeping in, it seem to form a claw and scratched at the ground, repeatedly as it tried to grab Luminous.

"You can't escape destiny." Luminous wanted to reply and shout that he could but he knew that was something he had been told countless of times. Luminous looks over to Lucia to see a firm look, she was determined to let him leave alive even at the cost of death.

"You can't escape destiny but you can change it to what your will desires." The three twisted to look at a cloaked figure who stood beside a medium sized dragon. "Who are you intruder?!" Luminous felt the other look at him and the serenity mage almost missed the sadden look that reflected in the other's barely visible blue eyes. "I'm not an enemy."

The hooded figure mounted the dragon and charged head on and crashed through the door. "You fool!" his teacher roared but Luminous could not take his eyes off the figure. The dragon breathe fire at the black mist only to find it ineffective the figure wanted to tell him something, but what?

Luminous's eyes widen as something materialized into the hooded man's hands, the weapon of serenity mage, a Shining Rod. The man twirled it and pointed at the black mist "Illuminate!" a bright flash, and the danger was gone. Luminous may be one of the best light mages, but that was skill even _he_ had not acquired, Luminous turned to his teacher only to see him gaping like a fish "B-But how? E-Even _we_ who use the strongest light techniques had no way to stop that horrid thing!" the figure immediately flew out and only passed by him for a second but Luminous heard it.

"If you want the knowledge of what I hold, seek me out."

* * *

**Godamnit Evan! The way i put you is both badass and a bit OOC!**

**Evan: H-How is this my fault?**

**Fang: Nah its not your fault but at this rate i think you're either gonna get a new persona or you're going to start to act like Phantom which is a no no.**

**Evan: P-persona? Like me going from nice to c-cold?**

**Fang: Yup~ But no worries, i see it as Phantom's fault for being a bad influence. I mean don't show your ruthless side to the kid Phantom!**

**Phantom: Alright, that's enough badmouthing me. I see it as a great improvement to dear Evan. *Drags Fang away***

**Fang: Noooooooooo! Phantom's gonna kill meeee! A-anyways Phantom before you drag me to a dungeon or something could you please end this?**

**Phantom: *sighs* Alright, Please review everyone~ *Continues dragging Fang much to Fang's screaming protests***


	5. Chapter 4

***Comes out with bandages* HA! Take that Phantom i'm alive! Lol.**

**Anyways you might be thinking this about EunWol, "But he only got the power to wield spirits after the black mage was sealed!" Granted yes, but the reason shall be explained further in the story~**

**Now sit back and enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

The Black Mage, no it was safe to call him the transcendent of life now was furious! Just as their predecessors had interfered with mortal matters, Alpha and Beta had used the power of time to change the past! He would not allow it! But he had no way of doing anything. He gave up the power of the other two transcendent to be reborn as the transcendent of life, therefore, time was no longer his jurisdiction.

"Now then you two, why don't you be nice little transcendent(s) and open up a portal for me so I can get rid of the pest you sent back." Alpha grinned through the large time barrier they had made around the sacred graves. "Frustrated Black Mage? You know you can't kill us, that would be the undoing of your 'hard work' the world would collapse because it would be missing one of its supporting pillars can't have that can you? After the Mirror World and Maple World fused, Gerald Darmoor who was the transcendent of time in the Mirror world is no more! There can only be three transcendent(s) and your miscalculation was that the power of time choose us."

The Black Mage gave a smirk "You fool! You've accomplished nothing! Back then _I_ held power of two transcendent(s) what makes you think I cannot simply find a way to erase the 'heroes' and let history repeat itself?!" Beta was the one who replied this time.

"Because history IS changing, the one we sent back is changing everything! Your downfall is looking down on mortals for they can be strong too!" The Black Mage growled in rage "Preposterous! You will see the downfall of your plan and I will mock you when the time comes! Just you wait _transcendent(s) of time_." He spat and went off. Beta glanced at Alpha with worry.

"I hate to say it, but we can only depend on him now."

XXX

"_Hey Mercedes?" Evan asked as he watched Mercedes fire arrow after arrow in rapid succession._

"_Is something wrong Evan?" the Elf Queen asked._

"_No…I was just wondering how you could always hit the target like that, don't you miss?" Evan asked as he peered up at Mercedes face, the elf queen looked at her crossbow guns with a smile._

"_Its because Evan, these weapons are what defend me or what helps me defend others. One arrow I shoot takes a life, but every arrow I miss is also a life lost, it means that I failed to kill a monster that could hurt something close to me. With thoughts like that and the resolve, How could I miss?"_

Evan woke up with a start. A memory of the past. He felt tears forming and the liquid slowly trailed down his face. Mir instantly woke up at the sound of sobbing and tried his best to comfort his master. "Mir…..I miss them! I miss them so much! It feels cruel! They're there yet so far away!"

He wanted them back! He wanted the only other family he had besides his real parents and brother back! He wanted his teacher who would appear with that familiar smirk on his face! He wanted his older brother figure who would praise him if he did something right! He wanted his mother figure who would comfort him when he was lost! He wanted his older sister figure who would accompany him and stand up for him when others were being too harsh on him!

Mir could only cry with his master, the feeling they share through their bond was far too much. The sadness his master felt is also what he felt, the tears his master shed was also his. The two stayed that way throughout the night until they fell into a dreamless sleep.

XXX

"Luminous….are you really leaving?" Lucia asked with worry. Luminous nodded his head sadly. "If I stay, then there would be many more attempts on Aurora. Plus, I need to find that man, he holds information that I could use." His teacher was curious as well but the man knew he couldn't leave their home unguarded as he followed Luminous in his chase.

"Luminous, I remember that man before. He's a scholar who goes by the name Freud, indeed a very wise man. My current sources tell me he's staying in Ereve for a period of time as a guest, he's the only one with a pact on a dragon so he should be the person you're looking for." Luminous nodded and gave a smile at Lucia.

"I'll be back, take care of yourself now."

"You too…."

XXX

"Mir for the last time, I'm fine now! You don't need to worry so much." Evan said with a laugh as he noticed that his partner was not willing to move even twenty cm away from him.

"Master you're hurt, I wanna do something about it!" Evan petted Mir's head fondly. "I know, I know. I may be hurt but I'll bear it if they live. Right now we observe them from afar and see how it goes."

"Ok then master…...Then what's for lunch?" Evan found himself laughing at Mir's usual question.

XXX

EunWol was a bit frustrated, he had went all the way to the freezing Rien (Interesting place he added) to meet with Chief Aran but there were so many requirements just to _talk_ with her, he had to beat various warriors, assist the tribe with medicine (Not that he minded that part, he loved helping people) and only then could he meet with Chief Aran. He took out all the warriors with not much trouble, helped picked herbs and made medicine (Thank god he had learnt that from a ship's doctor) and found himself surrounded with amazed people who wanted to know about his fighting style and foreign healing methods.

Now, EunWol was polite so he wouldn't just yell at them to get lost. So he declined as politely as he could and finally met with Aran. The lady had snow colored hair and icy blue eyes but her personality was far colder then both though. "Freud you say? He went already, that was quite some time ago."

"Is that so? Sorry for taking your time then."

"Wait." EunWol immediately halted from leaving the hut. "Why are you searching for Freud?" He gave a wry smile.

"Because I was told that I'm not the only crazy one with ideas like stopping the Black Mage. You could say that I want to join him in his quest." Aran's frosty glare slightly soften at the reason. "Alright then, I'll follow you as well. I've already made preparations, any idea where he went after he saw me?"

"Oh good, the more the merrier I say! I was told that he went off to see Lady Mercedes after this."

"Lets make haste then."

XXX

"So even after all this while, we still haven't found out anything?" Phantom asked completely skeptical. "Not _our_ fault boss! Its like he appeared out of nowhere! I've only found out bits and pieces of where he went!" Colette whined. "Alright shoot, tell me where he's been sighted." Phantom demanded impatiently.

"Ok lets see, he was first sighted at Henesys, following up would be people witnessing him on a flying dragon on his way to Ereve. Next would be Naulitus harbor following would be Leafre. He hasn't been seen since." Colette read from the piece of paper which held the information that she managed to gather.

"…Wait….Leafre?" Phantom's gears were turning "Who has he been in contact to in Leafre?" Colette typed on her computer a bit before answering. "Lets see, according to this, the hooded individual was chatting with Chief Tatamo."

"Any idea on what they were talking about?"

"No clue boss, the report doesn't state." Phantom pondered about it, a finger on his chin. "Renault! Set a course for Leafre!" the captain heard and started turning the ship the location "Aye sir!"

'_I might find something out after all hmm good thing I went to search on my own~"_

Awhile back before Phantom went to Leafre~

"_Freud you still haven't gotten anything yet?" Phantom whined he honestly couldn't stand waiting. "Phantom for the last time no. There has been nothing on him from the reports Aria sent nor any witnesses around this area." Freud elaborated patiently._

"_But I'm bored~" Phantom whined a bit more. Freud chuckled "Phantom a man of your caliber shouldn't pout like that. Why don't you try to search on your own?" Phantom's eyes suddenly hardened, making Freud tense. "And who would look after Aria if I'm away?" He asked coldly, Freud responded evenly._

"_Phantom, Aria can take care of herself. However should you insist I will see to her protection. I have no plans to leave as of yet since I'm curious on the research materials here. Afrien is also currently with Empress Aria and Shinsoo as we speak." Phantom gave in at that, he knew very well that Freud was strong._

"_Alright then please do~ I will see if I can find anything on that mysterious man." the thief's playful attitude returned._

"_Phantom," Freud asked before the thief exited the door. "You say that you fight to rid the Black Mage in order to make a peaceful world. But is that merely because Aria wishes it?" Phantom scoffed._

"_Of course. Other then the Black Mage there are still plenty of filthy humans out there. If I haven't met Aria I wouldn't put my life at risk for this world, its rotten because of some of the nobles. But Aria….she showed me the good side of this planet when I focused on the bad, just like she did to me." Freud smiled at the words but it was gone the next second as he stood up and turned to Phantom._

"_Then what would you do IF something happens and Aria would want the world gone? Would you side with her? Or would you choose to protect the world?" Freud asked seriously, he eyes stared __deep __into the amethysts orbs to see if Phantom was lying._

"_Freud, I'm not so selfless. I'm a selfish person who only cares about myself. But…should something like that happen I would choose to protect the world." Freud was surprised at the answer. _"_Why? You said it yourself that you were a selfish person."_

_Phantom gave a wry smirk at the confused and surprised mage "Its because the woman I fell in love with was one who was kind and gentle and loves the world despite its cruelty. If Aria _does _wish for the world's destruction then I would make it my task to see that she changes back into the peace loving person that she is, the one I fell for." Phantom said with a wink and disappeared in a torrent of cards. Not being able to see the gentle smile that appeared on Freud's face._

"_If that's the case Phantom, you're much kinder then you think." he whispered._

* * *

**Well that's all for this chapter, a bit short but still.**

**Evan: S-sob! That sounded so sad.**

**Fang: *Pats Evan's shoulder* No worries it will get better i promise, now then, could you end this chapter?**

**Evan: P-Please review.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey there~ I finally managed to type this chapter out! Banzai! **

**FFAnonymous- Haha i don't why either, but i still update anyways! Hopefully i won't screw up future chapters so you can enjoy this story more~ Yes i can actually see Phantom wanting to protect Freud's legacy by teaching Evan how to use it better. *Hugs back* So i'm not the only one who thinks that EunWol's fate was far too cruel! *Hands cookie* I would want to change it in Maple as well but i can't T.T only here can i change it. I'm glad you like my story though :)**

**Now enough with me babbling, on with the chapter!**

* * *

'_Finally!_' EunWol thought as they reached the kingdom of elves. EunWol knew he said that the more the merrier and he didn't think much about Aran's clothing when they met before since he more or less wears the same but for a guy to wear clothing that looks like his and for a girl to wear similar clothing, the reaction to the public was _much_ different.

Seriously! He couldn't even remember the number of times when they pass by a town and people stare at them not because they were strangers but because Aran's clothing seemed a bit revealing and odd. Plus, she brought a wolf with her and a polearm that contains a spirit that talks back with its owner(He uses spirits so being able to see one is no surprise), though the conversation was funny, it was still odd.

"Halt!" EunWol is brought out of his musings as elf archers surround them. "Who are you human?" EunWol raised both his hands to show that he meant no harm but the archers still had their arrows targeted for both of them. It was then did the pirate realize that Aran was gripping her weapon more tightly then usual, a sign that she intends to fight back.

"Wait! We mean no harm, we would like an audience with your Queen!" EunWol was raised as a pirate but he still knew proper titles when addressing royalty, he just hoped it was correct. "Why would the queen meet with someone as lowly as yourself! Turn around and leave foreigner!"

'_Okay!_' EunWol thought as he looked at Aran who did not seem pleased with the comment on 'lowly' '_If I don't do something, there will be blood spilt!_' preferably not his. "Please we need to ask her something! We would leave peacefully after that!" The elves discussed in their language. "Leave your weapons and your….wolf under our care. We will take you to see Queen Mercedes."

So after EunWol begged Aran for the hundredth time did she leave Maha with the elf, much to the weapon's loud protest. They were then 'escorted' to the queen's home, where they sat waiting. Mercedes soon came out dressed in her battle armor. "What is it? I'm about to leave soon so please be quick."

"Alright, is Freud here?" Mercedes frowned before answering "No he isn't. In fact, he went to Ereve about a month ago. I'm about to go meet him now since he asked for my aid before he left." Though the faces of her advisers didn't look happy at what their queen had said.

"Could we come along? We're looking for Freud as well. Oh! I'm EunWol and beside me is Aran." Mercedes nodded and frowned at Aran "Aran? Oh you must be chief of Rien, Aran! Freud had said you were joining him in his quest as well! I assume you want to do the same EunWol?" EunWol nodded eagerly. Mercedes talked to their 'escorts' in elf language and they immediately saluted, the one who held their weapons gave them back.

"Alright, lets leave. I don't mind bringing you two along since it will be nice to chat with future comrades." Mercedes smiled and whistled, a unicorn immediately came to her side. Aran looked at EunWol before glancing at her wolf, the pirate had gotten used to the frosty lady's way of communicating "Oh no need, I can catch up to both of you on your mounts. Please go on first, besides your mounts would slow down if I went on."

The two ladies seemed skeptical but mounted and took off nonetheless, the were shocked to find EunWol dashing and managing to keep up with their pace, the pirate didn't even look tired! "So why decide to help Freud anyway?" EunWol asked the two ladies.

"For my clan." Aran replied swiftly.

"Because of the transcendent's premonition, it is fate." EunWol nodded and stared right ahead on their path. '_Soon I'll find allies and more about that man._'

XXX

Luminous went into the portal and found himself on the peaceful island known as Ereve. The mage look around to see that he was in the castle and gave a sigh of relief, he didn't want to go through procedures, he just wanted to find Freud. So the mage carefully and stealthily tried to locate Freud and soon found himself in front of a door, inside he could sense powerful amount of mana.

He teleported inside and found the man scribbling away on a piece of paper, without looking up he said "Can I help you?" Luminous grunted he knew he would be found out instantly anyway. "Well I found you. Could you tell me what you used back in Aurora?" The scribbling stopped and Freud turned around to face Luminous.

"I haven't been to Aurora in this month." The mage stated. Luminous gritted his teeth "Don't be ridiculous! You rode your dragon in and dispelled the black mist targeting me!"

"Was 'I' wearing a dark cloak?" Luminous seemed puzzled at the question but nodded nonetheless. "It seems we have something to discuss." Freud immediately told Luminous that they were looking for the hooded man and that he was not him. "But…he told me to look for him…...actually now that you mentioned it, it _does_ seem odd." Freud raised an eyebrow but gestured the serenity mage to continue.

"When he attacked the black mist, he didn't need to ride his dragon since its flames would be ineffective. But he did, and before he left he told me to look for him. The fact that he rode a dragon was probably a clue to point my search to you, but why?" Freud agreed that when he put it that way, it does seem odd but why point to him? The only reason was about his plan on defeating the Black Mage….. "…!"

"Wait first tell me your name I didn't quite catch it."

"Luminous."

"Okay Luminous, what would have happened if the black mist wiped out Aurora just to get to you but you managed to escape?" Freud asked. Luminous snorted "Well that's simple, I would go after the one who casted the black mist, in this case the Black Mage."

"Would you go after the Black Mage alone?"

"If…..I could find 'allies' to help…then I suppose I would join them since our goals are similar one way or another, it would be beneficial to both sides." Freud's gear was turning in overdrive, the man interfered when Aria was about to get killed in which he managed to make Phantom join him since he wanted what Aria wished for, a better world. But if he didn't interfere, knowing how devoted Phantom was, he would seek revenge and the thief was smart enough not to go after the Black Mage alone so sooner or later he would seek Freud out.

And Luminous, judging by what he had said was that he would seek him out should his home be wiped out, most likely to avenge the serenity mages. But the hooded man not only saved the serenity mages he had also somehow tempted Luminous to look for him and if the light mage finds out that Freud was attempting to defeat the Black Mage, Luminous would most likely join. But whether the hooded man interfered or not, one way or another the two would join him, the only difference is that he managed to save someone….

"Have you figured something out?" Luminous asked. "Just a theory. I need confirmation on it first. In the meantime why don't you stay here? I'll request Empress Aria to prepare a room since continuously sneaking in and out is tiring yes?" Freud said with faint smirk and Luminous had to use all his willpower to not let anything show on his face.

XXX

Evan looked around and breathe a sigh of relief, he and Mir managed to find a place in Ereve to hide out and observe what would happen next. To be honest, he had no idea what would happen but according to what the heroes had told him, after they had gathered, they began to take missions on disrupting the Black Mage's plan. Not long after would they begin to find the seal stones as a failsafe. But Evan knew better, that failsafe was the biggest trap ever.

Shaking his head he lay beside Mir to get some sleep, what were the heroes doing now? He thought. He wanted to know, he wanted to join them. Being with them was the best time in his life and now, he could only observe from far. He couldn't touch them, he couldn't even tell them how much he missed them.

He wanted to meet Freud, the one they compared him so much to and yet he couldn't. A lone tear escaped, he knew he shouldn't be thinking about this, he was here on a mission, one he couldn't fail. Right now he should be thinking on his next best move, which would be eliminating the Black Mage's commanders just to lift a weight from their shoulders, even if it was a little.

XXX

The black Mage knew something was odd, he had lost one of his commanders, Lotus on a mission that he knew very well could not have gone wrong. He even delayed the thief Phantom from arriving on time. But no matter, Phantom had somehow joined Freud's little crew anyways, so did Luminous. He would have to hold back Orchid though, each time the girl would attempt to sneak out to murder Aria as revenge or maybe Phantom himself which would get her killed.

No, he had many uses for the child to lose her now would be a waste. Either way, he succeeded in his objective, which was to get them to join Freud's petty group. He even received word that Mercedes, EunWol and Aran were on their way.

Yes, everything was falling into place he would cackle out loud at how easy it was to manipulate them into doing something for him! He's already seen it! The distant future! How beautiful and sweet it would be…..

Oh how wrong the Black Mage could be. He's failed to realize that a rat has slipped through and is about to chew away his plans.

XXX

Phantom was rushing back to Ereve, who knew that the hooded man was actually targeting Freud's little group! But, not in a bad way, actually it seems like the hooded man was _helping_ things to move along. But judging by all that's happen there was one thing puzzling the thief.

How does that man manage to interfere at the right time? Its like that man knew it was about to happen! He's leaving clues to drag them in a round circle! They had more questions then answers right now!

"Sir, we've arrived." well, Freud is the scholar, not him. That mage can probably more or less guess what's happening if he could gather enough clues. Which he hopefully has.

* * *

**That's all for now, a bit short i know but a chapter nonetheless!**

**Evan: When are they going to find out who i am?**

**Fang: Soon, i think. End this chapter please?**

**Evan: Please Review~**


	7. Chapter 6

"So what you're saying is true, then the hooded individual is _indeed_ related to our quest and is more of an ally then an enemy." Freud summarized his theory and what Phantom has found out in front of said thief, Luminous, Aria, Shinsoo and Afrien. "Yup that's probably it~ No other reason then that." Phantom said with a smirk. Neinheart then enters with news "Sir Freud. Lady Mercedes, Chief Aran and the pirate EunWol is here to see you."

Freud frowned, he knew about Aran and Mercedes but EunWol? He heard of that name but never knew why the pirate was with them "Could you please lead them in?" Neinheart bows before leaving and the three soon enter, EunWol looked rather ecstatic to see Freud.

"Oh hey there! Been awhile!" EunWol shouted to Freud. The pirate studies Freud reaction and gave a smile "I thought so. Not him huh?" Freud nodded. "Well the way he phrased his 'test' was far too improvised anyway. He sucked at lying." EunWol said with a smile.

"You couldn't get anymore information then that?" Phantom asked. EunWol shook his head "I couldn't press for information." _Not when his eyes looked so sad._ "Wait wait! I'm confused, what's going on here?!" Mercedes yelled, Aran seem to be in agreement. Luminous then took over the story telling and told them what had happened recently, EunWol filled in the missing story about himself.

"So wait if that's the case, wouldn't he had approached us as well?" Aran asked "That would have been the case if he hadn't known that Freud had already contacted you, there would be no point in meeting you if Freud had already met you." Phantom said with a shrug.

"Freud," Afrien spoke up. "If that man's goal was to silently help speed things along, what would his next move be?" Freud considered the question for a moment. "There would be two moves possible should he really be on our side. One would be to observe us from afar before planning his next move, the other would be to lessen the problems on our quest, namely the black mage's commanders."

"Then wouldn't there be a chance that he's on Ereve right now? Or this very room?" Aria questioned. Everyone paused and slowly shifted into an tense stance. "I shouldn't think so, Afrien hasn't picked up on anything yet." Freud explained. A frantic guard soon stormed into the room "Empress! The guards have spotted a army of monsters heading this way!"

"It seems we have to put aside the matters for now." Freud stated as he stood up. "Phantom do you want to come along?" The thief shook his head "I'll stay with Aria in case something passes in." Mercedes and Aran seem to recognize that name since they were frowning.

"Freud, you let a thief join you?" Mercedes said with distaste. "We'll discuss that later. I assure you Phantom means no harm."

XXX

Speaking of the Black Mage's commanders, Evan had remembered something. The resistance had a former Black Mage commander with them, his name was Valfor the demon slayer. Evan had gone on a mission with him once since his mentor told him to and when they were executing the mission, all Evan could focus on was the fact that Valfor looked so lonely, something he could relate to at this time.

"_Umm Mister demon? Why do you seem so sad? Is there something wrong that I can help you with?" Evan asked as he waved a hand in front of the dazed demon slayer's face._

"_Its…..nothing." Valfor swiftly replied. The demon then walked on the path back to Edelstein at a quicker pace._

"_That's not true! You were standing there in your own world for the nth time today! Please you can tell me! I want to help!" Evan yelled as he gestured Mir to speed up. What surprised the young dragon master was that Valfor stopped all of a sudden making Evan crash into his back. "You can't help me with this problem, its mine to deal with and mine alone."_

"_That may be true. But at least I can hear you out! Keeping it in won't help, it will just deal you more sadness and pain." Evan exclaimed, remembering the number of times when Phantom had gazed at him with sadness in his amethysts orbs. There was silence between the two until Valfor spoke up._

"…_..You remind me of my younger brother." The demon said. Evan's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled. "You were an older brother mister demon?" Valfor nodded._

"_But the black mage took that all away, right now my brother serves that beast for an unknown reason." Evan could see the unconcealed emotions in the demon's eyes, Regret, pain, anger. The dragon master gave a bright and innocent smile towards Valfor making the demon start in surprise._

"_I don't know why your younger brother would do that. But I envy him for getting such a caring brother." Valfor had never looked so surprised before, no one had called him caring. Evan chuckled "My older brother, I don't know whether he cares about me or not. He would tell me that he's better at me sometimes and mock me. But you know something mister demon? I can't hate him, that's the bond brothers share, I think that's the same for you and your younger brother, if I were you right now, I'm just glad he's alive. Because that means I can still bring him back to my side. It means that I still have a chance."_

_Valfor regarded the boy in front of him with new interest before letting a gentle smile appear on his face, stunning Evan "Yeah. Thanks, I _do_ feel better now." Valfor ruffled Evan's brown locks making the boy squeak much to his embarrassment before the two continued back to Edelstein._

Should he? But not only does he not know about Valfor's current location, he doesn't even know when the Black Mage ordered for the demon's family death!(Although that won't matter if he managed to save them in time, be it a few days or a few months before it actually happens.) But….he still wanted to help, in a way, it still meant he would get 'rid' of a black mage commander, maybe the demon would even join his side.

That very thought was appealing, Valfor was incredibly powerful and more importantly, reliable. He needed information though but who would….Just then screams were heard and the loud roaring of monsters, Evan never looked more happy to see monsters, maybe the one leading this attack would know where the commanders are! He had to make the extra effort not to get caught though. But the effort was worth it if he could find out what he needed.

"Let's go Mir we have questions to ask!" Mir, having read most of his master's thoughts grunted an affirmative and they left.

XXX

When Evan arrived, he saw monsters and a few familiar faces. EunWol was punching, swinging throwing monsters around, being careful not to smash the houses around his area. Luminous fired rounds of light magic at anyone who got too close to him and swung his shining rod around to smack monsters away before burning them with light. Mercedes was firing tens of arrows on monster's foreheads, taking them down quickly and elegantly. Aran however, was a bit more rough and managed to smash a crater or two on the floor, Evan had to smile at that, it appears that the lady was as unrestrained as always.

However when Evan saw Freud his breathing nearly stopped. The heroes were not exaggerating when they said the mage looked like him, except in those blue eyes held wisdom and power, Freud easily fried the monsters with one or two spells with accurate precision, something that Evan took a long time to master. The young boy had remembered the many times that his mentor had yelled at him for setting his carpet on fire or nearly roasting him alive, the boy cringed at the memory.

Evan shook his head to get rid of the extra thoughts, right now he should be focusing on getting the leader of this large amount of monsters, there should be one around here…The young mage turned and one monster caught his eye, it was standing way behind, yelling at the others "Kill them! Kill them! What are you waiting for! They're only five people!" Evan swiftly swallowed a pill (His mentor, Phantom gave it to him to improve the boy's stealth and speed.) giving one to Mir and swiftly, but silently grabbed the leader before taking off. To normal people, he shouldn't have been seen.

But Freud was not a normal person and the mage managed to see a black blur kidnap the loud monster away.

XXX

"Alright talk, where are the commanders?" Evan said icily, Aran would have been proud. "I-I don't know! We're not serving under the black mage!" Mir growled at the monster. "Master can I eat him if doesn't know anything? Pretty please?" Evan nodded, making Mir give a toothy smile.

"W-Wait! Ok ok I'll talk! Just don't hurt me!" The monster said quivering at the boy's ice cold eyes. "Good. Just tell me truthfully what you have on the commander's location and I'll let you go quietly. I can tell if you're lying so don't even try." The monster nodded his head eagerly.

"I-I was told by S-Sir Arkarium to attack Ereve! He put me in charge and told me to do what I see fit!" The monster stammered out. "Location?" Evan pressed. "T-Temple of time. But most commanders don't gather there so often. S-Sir Von Leon would sometimes be at El Nath while Madame Hilla would be in Nihal Dessert!"

"What? The black mage has already taken the temple of time?" The monster nodded his head "Y-Yes, about a m-month ago….." Evan wanted to bang his head onto a tree, how could he had been so stupid! If he had managed to prevent the black mage from conquering the temple of time, their task would have been easier! "What of the transcendent?"

"I-I don't know! They don't tell someone like me anything!" Evan gritted his teeth "But there should be some rumors! What do you know!" The monster gulped, Evan let out some murderous intent (Something he learned from Luminous) and pressed the edge of his wand on the monster's throat. "_Now_."

"….T-The word is that the transcendent of time still lives, but not for long. The black mage is searching for a spell to absorb Rhinne's powers and once he does, he would be unstoppable." Evan's eyes glinted with hope, perhaps there was still some hope for the transcendent. "But you'll never get there successfully! There are commanders there and charging in is foolhardy!"

"That is for me to think of, Now go. If you babble one word about this to your superiors, I would hunt you down myself. Actually scratch that, if your superiors found out about what you told me then you wouldn't live long at all." The monster paled and scrambled off.

Mir whined at the loss of his food but the thought flew out of the window as Evan's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, instantly Mir helped his Master up "Wow…I don't know how Mister Phantom does this all the time! My stomach was twisting at every threat I made! Can't believe that guy bought it though….." Evan's ears perked up at the sound of rustling and immediately composed himself, this time it was his turn to pale as Freud stepped out with eyes glinting with amusement and interest.

"So _you_ are the mysterious person that secretly helps us. Nice to meet you in person." Freud greeted with a curt bow.

Evan impolitely cursed.

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**Well just felt like updating.**

**Anyways~ What's going to happen next? I wonder now~**

**Since Evan is currently in a tight spot, i'll end this!**

**Please Review~**


	8. Chapter 7

Evan _really_ needed options now. Freud, judging by what he knows, doesn't seem like the type who would let someone as shady as him go without questioning. Furthermore it seems like the heroes have pieced together that he and Freud were not the same person and if Evan's hunch is correct, the others would be finishing off the rest of the monsters and would wonder where Freud was. Which would lead them to discovering him here, and Evan wanted to be in the shadows until he could find Valfor so getting caught now was a big no no. "I'm…..flattered you know me Sir Freud, what could I do for you?"

"Its not so much on what you could do for me than what you have already done. I just wanted to know your objectives is all." Freud said with a serene voice. Now something was up, Mir could feel it too, Freud was just buying time. To Freud, Evan was someone with unknown prowess and it would be unwise to try to capture him alone. "I'd rather not disclose that now, if you excuse me I need to get going." Evan said flatly and hopped onto Mir.

"Ah, a pity. I hoped to talk with you some more. But before you leave, I'm curious about something, earlier on while you were interrogating that monster, you seem shocked when you were told that the Black Mage 'already' took the temple of time. What you're implying is that you knew somehow, that sooner or later it would happen. My question is, how?" Evan didn't reply but inside he was rolling around with a panicked expression.

"That, is none of your concern." Evan said coldly before nudging Mir, the dragon started flapping its wings and took off but Evan could hear one last sentence from Freud which made him flinch "Its related to time isn't it?"

XXX

Freud chuckled as he saw the figure flee, EunWol was right, the man or was it safer to assume child? Was a horrible liar, the scholar hadn't intended to let the mysterious person go but something in him told him that he should. Call it a scholar's intuition but he knew that they would meet again. Though another curious matter was that the child mentioned Phantom earlier but from the way the thief was acting, he truly did not know who the hooded individual was. But then again, seeing as how the child flinched at the mention of time, he could be from a time where all of them knew him, but that, was merely a theory.

So it brought him to this, should he withhold what he found out? In truth, Freud himself was shocked at the news of the temple of time's siege but if the transcendent still lives, it should be possible to save her. Freud thought as he slowly walked back to the group, Afrien immediately rushed to his side "Freud, are you alright? Why did you leave halfway though the battle?" his friend asked with worry.

The others were also listening to the duo's conversation "Its nothing much, except that I've managed to gain some information thanks to our shady friend." EunWol was the first to piece together what he meant "You meant that guy is here on Ereve?!"

"Yes, but not for long. If I'm right, he should be heading towards the temple of time soon." Freud explained while EunWol said that 'he' refers to the hooded man. "What for?" Mercedes asked confused, the temple of time isn't a place easily accessible to them since they were neither priests of time nor had they been invited there. Freud explained what he knew much to surprise of everyone there.

"The transcendent is in trouble?!" Another outburst from Mercedes "We've got to help her!" Freud held up his hand to cut off what the elf was about to say "Yes, but first lets discuss it in a more private area, I'm sure Phantom should be told about this as well." Luminous, Aran and Mercedes still did not seem happy about Phantom but they had no choice when Freud stood there looking determined, the only one who didn't mind was EunWol.

"I don't see why you guys quarrel about him. He's a decent guy." The pirate said. "He's a _thief._" Luminous spat. "And I'm a pirate. So what's our classes got to do with anything? He's strong, he's on our side and he's willing to cooperate, give the guy a chance!" Aran shook her head "You're alright for a pirate, but that guy-"

"Has not been given a chance to prove himself. He has not hurt anybody, he hasn't tried to do anything suspicious." EunWol cut off looking quite pissed, people judging by appearance was something he did not favor, sure the guy could have robbed, steal and conned but EunWol would give him a chance to prove himself or else they never move forward with all this prejudice. Freud glanced at him with a barely constrained glint of approval. "If we're done arguing, I suppose we can head back now?" The mage asked.

XXX

The group returned to see Aria looking like an angry mother while Phantom was poking something he shot out from the sky. The thief perked up when he saw Freud "Ah, welcome back." he said less cocky than when they left. Freud recognized the corpse to be what the hooded man was interrogating. "What happened?" he asked, restraining a sigh.

"Well, not long before you guys came back this thing was flying above us while screeching in absolute terror, I thought that it would be after Aria since it suddenly stopped above us and looked down, staring at her. I shot it with my carte and dear Aria wasn't too happy about it, she told me to go sit in a corner." Phantom said with a pout, amethysts eyes sulking like a child who was denied his candy.

Freud pinched the bridge of his nose while trying to hold back any forms of laughter, he had an appearance to keep up. But the mage couldn't withhold the slight curving of his lips. Aran had amusement in her eyes, Mercedes let out a few soft giggles, Luminous had a big smirk on, EunWol had a rather gentle smile while Afrien gave a toothy grin. "Phantom," Freud began "please remember that you have an appearance to keep up so stop sulking like a child."

Aria who was listening in gave a few giggles while Shinsoo looked at the group with a smile. "Freud did you find out anything interesting when you were out there?" The mood turned serious as the mage gestured everyone to gather around. Phantom got up and went near EunWol "Thanks for that. I appreciate what you did, but I can defend myself."

"So you were listening in?" Phantom gave a chuckle "I placed a few crows around." Phantom patted the pirate on the shoulder before going back to sit, EunWol shook his head before joining them. Freud once again explained what had happened, Phantom's face held no emotion but inside his gears were turning at rapid speed. Aria was frowning "We need to rescue her then. We cannot afford the black mage to steal her powers." Phantom snapped his fingers and the attention was on him.

"If we're going to rescue the transcendent, then we need a plan. Fortunately, I have the layout of the temple of time." The thief threw a carte up and it became a crow which promptly disappeared before reappearing on Phantom's shoulder with an ancient scroll clamped between its beak. Phantom gently took it and the crow returned back into a carte before disappearing. The thief spread out the ancient scroll on the small table.

"Impressive. Where did you chance upon this?" Freud asked as he studied the map. "More importantly, _why _do you have this?" Luminous asked suspiciously. "Well…..I happened to stumble upon it by luck." The thief smirked.

"Phantom dear, you weren't going to pay a visit there were you?" Aria asked with an eyebrow raised. "O-Of course not! Why would I go there?" Phantom noticed that the others were staring at him with a 'why else?' look on their face. The thief pouted and raised both his hands "Fine fine, I _was _planning to go there, but there were reasons why I couldn't so I scraped that plan away." Phantom pointed to a faint circular line covering the whole temple.

"This barrier kept me out. Sure, maybe after I figure out what's its made of then perhaps I can enter but that would take years since I'm not adept at this sort of thing and my informants couldn't gather any intel on it either since they aren't fully adept in complicated magic and spell casting, plus this barrier is one of a kind casted by Rhinne herself. However, since the black mage is in there, I assume that its been seized already and hopefully, the barrier is down or at least weakened." There was a glint in Mercedes's eyes as she whispered "Maybe I should cast this sort of barrier around Elluel." Phantom pouted as he knew the reason for doing such a thing was to keep people like him out.

Freud scratched his chin while glancing and taking notes of particular things in the map "Perhaps, but just to be sure I'll figure out what its made of. It'll take a day or two. Why don't you guys see if our shady friend has left this island already? Since our goals are similar, maybe we can work together." The group nodded and each scattered. Since Freud was here scribbling, Phantom left without much worry since the mage would definitely take care of Aria.

The thief glanced at the map of Ereve, he marked out some hiding spots which could easily hide the man without anyone's notice and went to search.

XXX

Evan had packed everything up and was planning to take off, he couldn't risk it. Freud had already found him and he knew time was running out, he had to sneak in or he wouldn't make it, luckily, his cloak has features to shroud him. His mentor did say it was for his clumsiness which made him easy to detect.

But what he didn't know was that Phantom here was as strong as the one in the future, if not more. Evan twisted around when he felt someone whistling to see that familiar smirk and amethyst eyes, something he had missed very much. "Nice to meet you. I suppose you are the one I should thank for saving Aria's life." The thief elegantly gave a curt bow but the grateful smirk was there.

"_Are you the one who supposedly inherited Freud's legacy?"_

"N-no need for thanks. Why are you here?" Evan cursed his stutter which made Phantom snort in amusement. "Freud said to ask whether you would like to join us since we're also planning to head to the temple of time." Evan eyes widen under his hood. He wanted to scream 'yes!' to be with them again was something he wanted so very much. But instead he croaked out "I'm afraid not, I have other plans so I'll operate alone." Phantom hummed.

"You have an interesting way of baiting us. Telling EunWol it was test and to tempt Luminous with your unique techniques. Do you have anything else interesting to show?"

"_I'm here to test whether you're suited to bear the title dragon master. Hate me if you will but if you don't pass you're not leaving here with Mir."_

"Currently nothing." Evan gave a curt reply while petting Mir as if to tell the dragon not to act rashly.

"_You….passed. I see Freud's spirit and hope in you. I will teach you how to make full use of it."_

The memory made his eyes turn sad and lonely one more, making Phantom start in surprise, the thief had seen those eyes, how could he have not when he always saw them on his own face when looking at a mirror. "EunWol withheld this. No wonder he didn't question you further, what seems to be bothering you?"

"_Umm Mister Phantom, why do your eyes always reflect sadness?"_

"_It happens when you've lost something, something that is precious to yourself. I hope I will would not see them in your eyes."_

"No….need. I'm fine on my own." Evan tugged at Mir desperately, the dragon sensing that his master couldn't hold up any longer immediately grabbed the brunette with his claws and took off, much to Phantom's surprise. The thief however, managed to grab hold of Evan's wrist for a split second and felt something flow into him.

"_Mister Phantom you're injured from shielding us! You can't keep carrying me and Mir back!"_

"_I can….and I will. Its my duty as your mentor and friend."_

A vision…..? Or a memory? Or was it something else? He could only see glimpses of it for a short second. But there was one thing that stuck out the most "Evan….?"

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**Poor Evan, i bully him way too much =.=**

**Now since Evan is still having a few problems of his own, i'll end this!**

**Please Review~**


	9. Chapter 8

**Greetings readers~ I have just finished re-reading everything and corrected all the tiny mistakes~ Yay!**

**Rye Mellark- Haha i don't know about getting a beta reader, i will consider though as i think it might be necessary. I'm very glad that you hold this fic in high regard and that you enjoy my writing and this story *Hands another cookie* Well its nice to see two reviewers having the same opinion, hooray for peace!**

**Well then, here's the new chapter!**

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Evan stood near the barrier of the Temple of Time, he glanced at it warily. "Ready Mir? We have to do this quick." Evan felt the goddess of time beckon to him, signifying that he had been given permission to enter and quickly charged in, not needing to go through all those traps made him feel slightly better. "Mir, do you remember the area where they could have held her?" Mir nodded and swiftly glided, blending in the shadows of the pillars.

Evan swallowed another shrouding pill and gave Mir the same. He glanced around warily, taking note of the number of guards present. '_Master, I sense the Black Mage here. I feel sick….._' Mir complained, Evan nodded his head in agreement, the aura the Black Mage had made him feel like puking.

'_Bear with it. I need to see if I can pick up Rhinne's power….got it! Why does it have to be so close to the Black Mage?_' Mir whined at that thought, it meant going closer to the old tyrant, but still, they had to do it. Evan was about to step out until Mir growled with anger and rage. Evan turned to where the dragon was looking at and felt the same.

The Black Mage commanders had arrived.

XXX

The Black Mage had faintly felt something enter, but it was so small and tiny that he shook it off as mere monster coming in, they had a lot those nowadays. However, this tyrant had been in a particularly good mood, Arkarium had just discovered the old spell of absorbing the goddess of time's powers a few days ago and the Black Mage wasted no time in learning it.

Today was the day that he put one step forward in his plans! Time would soon completely be under his control! Just this one spell and all of time's powers would be his! He had even summoned his commanders for this _joyous _occasion. The Black Mage stood up, his chains clinking eerily in the pin drop silent hallway as he made it to their conference room to sit and wait for his commanders.

XXX

Evan wanted to curse out loud, of all days the commanders had to gather today?! He had made sure to stuck close to them but not too close as he blended in with the crowd of monsters to hear their conversation, his eyes darted to Von Leon, Hilla, Magnus, Arkarium, Guwaru, Orchid and finally Demon Slayer. "Do you think the Black Mage will successfully gain the powers of time?" Hilla asked to no one in particular.

Arkarium snorted "Of course! I helped him obtain that spell after all! It cannot fail!" The rest rolled their eyes at Arkarium, they really didn't feel like dealing with the old man. Evan was glancing more on Valfor then the rest of the commanders. "And? Where is the goddess of time held at?" Von Leon asked.

"Why? Want to see if she looks like your dead wife?" Hilla teased and just as she had expected, Von Leon's anger shot up like a rocket "Don't you dare mention her with your filthy mouth!" Von Leon then use his sword and slashed at Hilla, only to miss as Valfor intercepted before things got worse. "Calm down, she's baiting you." He promptly said.

Von Leon grunted in appreciation before calming himself, he would not let this…._witch_, bait him into something. But what Hilla said caught Evan's interest, he didn't know Von Leon had a lover. Then again, he didn't think Phantom could have one either until the thief mentioned Aria. The group reached the doors of the conference room and Evan could go in no further, the mage gagged before silently walking down to another pathway with Mir in tow, he had to find the goddess, picking up Valfor would have to come later.

The brunette had went into empty rooms and even passed by guards to see if they knew something, he groaned when he found out nothing, at this rate, searching would eat up too much time and judging by what Arkarium had said about them finding the spell to absorb time's powers, he didn't have that much time to spare. After the nth door he had broken into, he wanted to cry in frustration when he found nothing! How large was this place anyway?! Mir could only find the area, the dragon had no clue as to where the goddess's specific location is.

'_Child, can you hear me child?_' a voice asked, he wanted to thank whatever god there is, finally some directions! 'Yes goddess, loud and clear. Please tell me where you are, I seriously can't seem to find you.' Evan could feel the goddess give a amused smile at his frustration '_I only know that you are somewhere near me, since my powers can no longer stretch very far._' Evan held back a sigh, this is the goddess of time, he thought.

'I understand, I will continue searching for you.' Evan said as he gestured Mir to follow him as he picked up the pace. Evan felt something touch his shoulders and he jumped in shock, immediately turning around.

XXX

Freud had finally completed the spell after two days. He had pushed aside all other work and focused solely on the barrier, he had gathered information and soon deduced what the barrier could be made of. Now he just had to alert the others, Freud had sent them away on a mission to Rien when he had heard that there was a planned attack there, Aran was more then willing to go and had dragged EunWol along(quite literally by the collar) and in turn the pirate dragged Luminous and Mercedes along.

And again Phantom didn't tag along. Speaking of the thief, he had not seen him anywhere. Two days ago he had just gave the hooded man's reply to his invitation before disappearing and Freud has not seen him since. This worried Aria since the thief did not seem like his usual flirty self. Freud went to pick up the carte that Phantom had left him should he need anything from the thief and launched it into the air, feeling it disappear.

Phantom came into his room shortly after "Yes Freud?" he asked with a smirk. Seems like the thief was back to normal "Could you gather the others when they come back later today? I have finished deciphering the barrier. Also, do let Aria know that you're fine, she has been worried sick about you." Phantom nodded and disappeared once more.

XxX

Phantom, was in fact not completely hundred percent fine. The thief had continuously chanted the name Evan like a mantra countless of times and found that he knew nothing about that name. But then, the boy called him mentor in the vision, which meant that he had taught the boy before but, to the thief's frustration he had no recollection whatsoever of the sort. Phantom sighed before composing himself and entered Aria's room.

The empress's room was filled with paper and requested help documents pilling on a desk. The empress had accidentally fell asleep on the desk and was frowning in her sleep. Phantom found this endearing but Aria still needed to rest on a proper bed. Funny how she told him that not too long ago. Phantom easily and gently lifted Aria bridal style and carried her to her bed before laying her to rest on the soft mattress, pulling up the blankets at the same time.

Aria stirred in her sleep but did not wake up, mumbling something about unsigned documents. Phantom chuckled before giving Aria a gentle kiss and left a rose as well as a carte beside her.

The thief didn't manage to catch the empress's smile as he left.

XXX

Mir had clamped a claw on Evan's mouth before the boy could shriek and sighed in relief, they had almost given out their position. In front of them was a pure white ghost with a gentle smile, but what had scared Evan was the fact that she was transparent and the boy wasn't really fond of ghosts.

"Oh pardon me, it appears that I've scared you." She said apologetically while bowing. "N-No that was my fault. Who are you anyway?" "My name is Laura, I'm actually Von Leon's wife." Mir had to clamp his claws on Evan's mouth again."O-Oh sorry for the outburst, I just didn't know that Von Leon had a wife." Laura gave a gentle smile "No harm done. Could you hear my request out? I'll lead you to the goddess of time if you do." Evan nodded, it sounded harmless.

"You see, Von Leon was not what he is now. He used to be a kind soul, adored by all his people, I loved him because of his fierce yet gentle personality. However one day, I was murdered and it all changed. I was killed by a black mage commander, the one you saw earlier, Hilla. She had one of her skeleton warrior dress as an Ereve knight and purposely left the crest of an Ereve knight which led Von Leon to believe that it was Empress Aria's fault for my death. I kept calling you see, but he had fallen too far in his path of revenge, his cold intentions prevented him from seeing me but I just want to tell him the truth of that day. My request is that you could get him to be able to see me."

Evan was slightly shocked at how much that story was similar to Phantom's except Phantom wasn't lusting for revenge in this time. But one time in the future, he had seen what Phantom looked like when he was furious, that was the time he saw Orchid in the resistance base. The thief looked like he wanted to kill, to slaughter and had left using what bit of self control he had to do so. Phantom had prowled in his room like a beast for the next few days until Evan had got him to snap out of it.

"How do you suggest that I do that?" Evan asked "You must sway his intentions for revenge even just a little bit, only then would he be able to see me. Could you please do this?" Evan nodded and bowed "Of course. It will be beneficial to me as well. Me and Mir would do our best." Mir growled an affirmative.

Laura gave a grateful smile before gesturing ahead "Now for my part of the deal. I remember a certain young gentleman getting lost here?" she said with mischievous and amused smile making Evan blush, he had hoped that the girl had forgotten that.

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**Oh my, what do i have planned for our enemy lion? Hmm~**

**Evan: I forgot that i get lost easily...**

**Fang: Haha Its fine, that's what makes you more endearing! *Serious face and thumbs up* Now end this, its been two chapters since you did that.**

**Evan: Haha...Please Review~**


	10. Chapter 9

**Haha hey guys~**

**Frozen Fate- Hmm okay your review was incredibly long O.O! Though i don't mind let me just clear things up for you okay? True granted i took away Phantom's reason for joining the heroes and by right he wouldn't move. But first of all consider how Phantom feels, each and every time watching Aria feel so upset when she couldn't help someone in need or when she was forced through all the documents that needed her approval all because of the Black Mage. Wouldn't Phantom feel so helpless about it and want to help? Think about it. And secondly about Luminous, foresight is something that probably very few people have, again granted but who said there wouldn't be any premonition? For god sake they're light mages! If Mercedes's people could do it why can't they? And exactly, Luminous loving Lucia/Lania is a fan speculation but this is FAN fiction gee louise, if i didn't put something there it wouldn't come out right besides i think that Luminous loving Lucia/Lania is perfectly reasonable. Yes light magic, then tell me, do YOU know what the requirements to learn it are? It was never stated. The heroes may be able to learn it but why would Aran, Mercedes or Freud for that matter want to? Furthermore if there ARE requirements then i think it would be to possess the attribute of light.**

**And why couldn't Evan learn it? Think about it light magic is complicated learning even if a person has the attribute for it, they can't learn it instantly without any risks but serenity mages are specialized in that and they can teach it to those who have. And if following my theory, why would Luminous teach the others anyway? They had no real connection back then other then the fact that they all want to beat the Black Mage. Furthermore i didn't say it was ONLY a 'claw' i said it was black mist that entered serenity and only formed a claw when it wanted to reach out for Luminous. And can you count mist? Nope! and reasonably the black mage wouldn't send a pathetic amount to assault the serenity mages either. Evan is slightly more powerful then Luminous because he has the other heroes's techniques and besides currently luminous does NOT have his dark magic, when you play Luminous you realize that half of his skills are dark spells tell me why wouldn't Luminous be slightly weaker then what you picture him if he isn't a mage that focuses on Equilibrium between light and dark magic?**

**Then tell me how else Evan could have learnt besides training? That part of your review made no sense, in order to get stronger you train! If you stated that he trained then it means you contradicted the fact when you said 'magically become overpowered' even i know that it doesn't work that way! And seriously EunWol, are you even clear on his storyline? He sacrificed his existence to power up the spell! Do you know the extent of the word existence? It means what you are and what you've done as well as how you've lived your life if that is taken away what is left? Nothing. But EunWol is still alive somehow, however each time he crosses dimensions people would forget about him, how would Evan make a gravestone for him if he never knew that EunWol fought in the first place?! Hello~'Forgotten hero'? However in this fic he still has his existence as i'm trying to make that happen while sounding logical.**

**Well if what you said about Phantom is true then why did he even approached Freud in the trailer? People got to start from somewhere you know.(Also Phantom is a thief, one would be more careful around people like that. But Freud accepted Phantom and the feeling was mutual also, Phantom is more of person that would like to joke around so i think what i said fits his personality) Plus, i NEVER said that the black mage was the transcendent of time! I said that he _wielded _power of time after stealing it! Its not that i'm dissing what you say because what you said in your review doesn't exactly add up to canon maple or what i have wrote in my story either.**

**Oh wow that was long, i just wanted to set facts right first. Now then enjoy this chapter!**

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Freud and the rest were on Phantom's ship Lumiere on the third day morning as they peered at the barrier in front of them. "Phantom, I have just finished coating your incredibly and unreasonably large ship with the potion to break the barrier." Freud said sounding a tad bit irritated, Phantom told Renault to go ahead while he snickered as he remembered earlier that day.

_After Aria finally convinced Phantom to leave her be in Ereve and quite literally shoved him into the discussion room did Phantom relent and paid attention to Freud's plan._

"_Now then we just need transportation there, I think Afrien could fly us all there, he's big enough." Freud stated after finishing his explanation on what they were going to do in the temple of time. Mercedes and Aran had decided to leave their mounts in Ereve as traveling on land would take far too long. "How long would it take if we ride Afrien?" Phantom asked._

"_About a few hours, unless you have a better method." Phantom smirked as he brought out a carte "Time I 'invited' you guys to my home. To the skies." He whispered and all of them present in the room (Aka Aran, Mercedes, Luminous, EunWol, Afrien and Freud) was transported using cards and onto a deck of the ship._

_Phantom gave a dramatic bow as he led the dazed group inside "Welcome to my humble abode." Frankly, the group was quite shocked, Luminous just looked at it with slight distaste while the others in awe. "Just great, I need to make a larger dose to cover this ship." Freud mumbled._

"_That's your problem?" Phantom said with an eyebrow raised "I more or less guessed that your home was exquisite like this, just not a floating one." Freud said in complete monotone. Phantom's smirk widened as he called out "Renault my man! Set a course to the temple of time!"_

"_Aye sir! We'll reach there in an hour!" Freud was slightly amazed that it only took one hour to reach the temple of time here, much to Phantom's pleasure._

The rest of the group were either exploring or sparring with one another. Lumiere sailed through the barrier with little interference as it forced its way into the Temple of time, Phantom slowly guided Renault on where to turn to avoid traps, Afrien was on the deck taking out monsters that came too close to the ship by blasting them into pieces. The group soon gathered outside as they reached the temple of time.

XXX

The black mage growled as he sensed something enter his territory. "Commanders, there are pests who have breached through the barrier, get rid of them. They're most likely the group Freud has made." The rest of the commanders seem to perk up at the sound of a challenge and left. The Black Mage stood, and went to see Rhinne.

XXX

Evan stopped observing the chains binding the goddess of time as he heard screams and yelling while some screamed "Intruders!" '_Fret not child. You have not been discovered._' Rhinne said making Evan breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't help but smile since he knew that the heroes were the ones who were causing the trouble. Evan sensed the disturbing black aura of the Black Mage and quickly pulled Laura and Mir to hide out in one of the empty rooms connected to the chamber.

"Ah goddess, even after I imprisoned you, you still illuminate beautifully." The black mage said with a smirk as he used his hand to touch Rhinne's face, his claws scraping against the porcelain skin, making Rhinne swat the hand away. "Do not touch me black mage." The black mage tutted as he pulled his hand away.

"As feisty as ever. No matter, soon you would no longer be around." The evil tyrant cackled as he walked out of the room, his black cloak swishing with the movement, closing the chambers with an echoing slam. Rhinne sighed as she waited for a few minutes for Evan to enter again, the brunette closed the door of the connected room gently to prevent any sound.

"I thought he was going to find out I was here. How is it that he doesn't notice me anyway? This cloak I'm wearing can only do so much." Evan asked curiously. "You can thank your friend Laura for that, she's been shrouding you for quite some time now." Rhinne explained as she glanced down at Evan who was beginning to write a few spells on the chains at the same time, loosening the bar of her cage.

Evan stopped and glanced at Laura with slight shock "Well, you can't assist me if you get caught can you?" She said with a wink, Evan smiled with appreciation as he gestured Mir to help him with the larger symbols. "At any case, I better hurry. Mir once I'm done with this, take Rhinne and flee I'll cast a spell which can shroud you for a few minutes and set up a decoy here so the Black Mage won't realize that the goddess is missing until its too late. Though I'll need a bit of mana from you goddess I hope you don't mind." Rhinne just smiled while showing a gesture that she didn't mind "Great. After that I'll meet with Von Leon and maybe Valfor as the heroes are causing a ruckus outside."

Mir nodded "_Master, please promise me you'll come back alive_." the dragon said telepathically and Evan nodded his head in acknowledgement as he stood up while writing the final symbol on the cage. Rhinne handed some mana to Evan as he infused it into a orb and left it exactly at where the goddess was "Release." the brunette whispered and all the symbols lighted up, causing the chains to shatter and the cage to fall apart. A split second later, Evan casted a shrouding spell before helping Rhinne mount Mir. "Ooh, I always wanted to ride on a dragon. My priests never allowed me though." Evan laughed before pushing the chamber door open and saw with relief as Mir leaped out of the room and took off. That was one thing he could get off his mind.

"Alright, lets go meet the commanders." Laura beckoned Evan with one hand as she leaded him to where Von Leon was.

XXX

What Evan forgot was that the chains looked eerily similar to the black mages'. Unfortunately, it _was_ the black mage's chains and the tyrant stood up as he stormed towards Rhinne's cage only to be enraged as he found pieces of the cage there. His anger flew up to epic proportions as he crushed the glowing orb and stormed out the chamber. "Commanders! The goddess of time has escaped! FIND HER!" He bellowed, knowing fully well that his commanders could hear him. When the tyrant gets his claws on the idiot who would _dare _interfere with his plan, he would make sure that he or she wouldn't exist.

Evan gulped as he followed Laura, '_That, was fast. I didn't think he would notice it that quick!_' he clamped his mouth shut as they went further into the hallway.

XXX

The heroes who were halfway storming froze at the sound of the black mage's enraged voice. "It seems as the hooded man managed to get here first." Phantom said with a smirk. "Well what now Freud?" Aran asked as her polearm conked the head of an unfortunate monster. "We'll wipe out as much of the Black Mage's army here and retreat when it gets too rough. I have a feeling that we're supposed to be distractions here."

"Well! I'm glad you know that I'm naturally distracting!" Phantom laughed as he stabbed his cane into a monster before pulling back and transformed it into and a dagger and slashed one of the monster's throat. Luminous scoffed beside him "He wasn't talking about that. He was saying that we're supposed to create a big ruckus as a distraction."

"I know _that _captain obvious, I was trying to lighten the mood!" Phantom argued, the two continued bickering while unintentionally beating up the surrounding enemies. Freud sighed while EunWol smiled at their antics, as long as it works he thought. Mercedes stood behind him as she shot an incoming charging bull on the forehead, Freud fried another that was trying to launch an aerial attack.

"Well?" Mercedes asked as she shot another. Freud gave a small chuckle as he brought out his wand "Alright, after you." Mercedes shot a snake like monster who was close to biting Freud as the auburn haired mage twisted around and launched a fireball at Mercedes's blind spot, effectively knocking out the monster who was about to pounce on her, the two were covering for each other. While Freud casted large spells Mercedes would play defense and Freud shielded her when she was focused on the front.

Afrien was with Aran and EunWol whom was ambushing and taking out monsters by bulk, though their methods were quite rough as they put a dent or two in a pillar and a crater or two in the ground. Freud made a mental note to apologize to the goddess of time later.

Things got out of hand as a black blur charged into the room, behind was several of the commanders and chains following what looks to be a dragon with the goddess of time onboard. Freud wanted to sweat drop as he noticed how much fun the transcendent was having as she pulled the dragon to avoid something or to cheer loudly. _'Get it together. Questions later._' "Guys! Protect that dragon! Its carrying Rhinne on! Stop the commanders!" The group finally noticed the transcendent with the commanders behind her trail, and although they wanted to question…..some things but they held it back and charged forward.

Aran intercepted Magnus, Freud and Afrien had Arkarium, EunWol got demon slayer, Phantom got orchid, Luminous had Guwaru and finally Mercedes got Hilla. Hilla groaned "Hey where's Von Leon?" She asked Magnus as she dodged Mercedes's oncoming shots. "Who knows? Last I saw him was when they took a different pathway to get here. All of us split up anyways, I'm surprised we managed to get here together." Magnus grunted out an answer as he parried Aran's polearm.

Freud turned to the dragon that was glancing at them and mouthed '_Go! Run!_' The auburn haired mage was pleased as he noticed the dragon understood and roared before flying away. Luminous was sending light magic to prevent the chains from following and they could feel that the black mage was getting very irritated and enraged. Freud looked at the group and gestured for them to split up into different areas.

XXX

"And? Are you the intruder that set Rhinne free?" Von Leon gruffly asked. Evan nodded his head. "Yes, I did that." Von Leon started to scan Evan up and down "You know that the black mage would come after you if you did that, so why do it?"

"Its because I felt it wasn't right to cage someone like that. They deserve to be free, just like you do." Von Leon stared at Evan with confused eyes. "What do you mean?"

"….You remind me of someone I know. You're consumed in revenge, you want revenge for your wife, Laura. But is that what she truly wants you to do?" As he expected, Von Leon charged at him with anger and fury.

* * *

**Well then, hmm what am i to say...*ponders about it***

**Evan: *Glances at Fang and sighs* Please Review~**


	11. Chapter 10

"Why do you know her name?! Answer me!" Von Leon roared as he turned into his huge beast form, Evan dodged as Von Leon slashed with his long claws causing large gashes on the walls of the temple. "I know it because she told me." Von Leon seemed to become more and more enraged as he stomped, crashed and tried to squash Evan.

"Preposterous! Laura is gone! She's gone, gone, GONE! Its because of that knight's fault!" Evan casted a large bolt of lightning which pierced Von Leon's shoulder, causing the beast to roar in pain. "Have you considered that it could have been a ruse? To bait you into something?" Evan calmly asked, the boy sensed that Von Leon tensed as if considering something before it was gone the next second.

"No! I saw him! I killed the knight that slaughtered my love! Do not deceive me!" Evan gritted his teeth _Damn it! The black mage casted something on him! Its erasing the thought of the murder being set up! _Evan barely twisted in time before a claw gave a large gash on his shoulder. The brunette bit his lip to prevent a yell of pain and stood up, he swapped to Mercedes's crossbow gun and fired rapid rounds, though small they managed to make Von Leon flinch giving Evan the opportunity to attack by switching into Aran's polearm, getting a clean hit to Von Leon's head.

"Listen to me! You're being deceived! Open your eyes!" Von Leon growled as he shook his head and kicked Evan, sending the boy crashing into a wall. "You lie! Do not use my wife's name to trick me!" Evan felt immense pain on his back but he still pushed on. Evan swapped into Luminous's shining rod and aimed it at Von Leon's head with a shaky arm, he felt Laura touch his arm gently '_Just a bit more, your slowly getting to him._' Evan nodded and staggered up. He leaped and twisted the rod around before sending Spectral light towards Von Leon, the lion grunted and use both claws to shield himself.

Evan landed gently on the beast's forehead and pressed his palm on it before whispering a spell, it worked on Phantom once, perhaps it would do the same for Von Leon. Instantly, the beast's mind was cleared, the haunting fog that always resided in his mind vanished, Von Leon could think more clearly now. "Please calm down and think about it. On that day, wasn't it suspicious that the man intently left his crest for you to see it? Think about it."

Von Leon pondered about those words._ The child is right, that knight was deliberately shoving his crest on my face! Why didn't I think it was suspicious until now? But, if I'm not to get revenge on them, then who?_ Without knowing, Von Leon had collapsed on his knees, head deep in thought. Evan jumped off and stood next to him panting. "_Von Leon! Leon! Can you hear me?_" Von Leon's eyes widened at the sound of that familiar melodious voice.

"…Laura…?" He glanced down and indeed, his wife was staring at him with a mix of pure relief, happiness but also a bit of anger. Evan who was left forgotten by them smiled as he whispered a spell that would give Laura a temporary corporeal body, let this be their gift, it hurt to see someone act so sad.

Without thinking, Von Leon turned into his human form and went to embrace his wife "Laura! But how? Why?" Von Leon looked at his wife up and down, noticing her body was transparent but he still could touch her, feel her warmth. Laura hugged Von Leon back "Thank that child over there. He risked himself knowing he couldn't die here just to give me an opportunity to explain what happened on that day." Von Leon turned to look and saw Evan's hands together while chanting something, his hands were constantly glowing with transparent white mana which was flowing into Laura, the boy gave a weary smile.

"That day you were murdered?" Von Leon asked after giving Evan a look of gratitude. "Yes. That day, it wasn't an Ereve knight who killed me. It was one of the black mage's commanders, Hilla." Von Leon's eyes widened in disbelief. "She was ordered to do so by the black mage to get you to join them. I continuously called you but you were so far down in revenge that you never noticed me. I waited and waited until an opportunity presented itself to tell you the truth."

"To…think that the true killer was beside me all this time and I never noticed. I'm so sorry…" Von Leon said while his voice was muffled as he buried his face into his wife's shoulder. "I forgive you. But what I couldn't believe was that you did all those horrible things to your people. They were also in agony at your pain and it only increased after you decided to join the black mage."

"I'll change. I'll take down Hilla, I'll also take down the one that ordered your death! I'll make them pay!" Von Leon growled, Laura frowned as she rubbed Von Leon's back "Leon just remember, never go to far down revenge again, you have to move on. But just know that I love you, now and for the rest of eternity." They shared a kiss as she disappeared into thin air, satisfied that her one and only regret has been fulfilled. "I Love you too….." Von Leon whispered, Evan gave a relief sigh as he stopped his spell, it was draining mana and something else from him by the minute. The brunette however, could feel the injuries taking a toll on him, his vision started turning black.

"N-no, I can't get caught now. I still need to see Valfor, I promised Mir that I would come out of this alive." Evan pushed himself to stand up and could vaguely see Von Leon approaching him before his vision turned black.

XXX

Magnus cackled loudly as he swung his blade downwards, Aran and him were both covered in scratches and both were heavily bleeding. The nova laughed, he hadn't had such a fun battle since a long time! All the others were just too weak to stand up to him and he could tell that Aran shared the thought since she was grinning as she posed her polearm for another attack.

The two parried each other's weapons again before leaping back, Aran felt Maha telling her not push it but she didn't care as she charged forward and swung Maha down horizontally, out of instinct, Magnus bended backwards to narrowly miss the blow before slashing downwards, managing to give her another gash.

Aran didn't seem happy as she jumped, twisted around in midair before landing behind Magnus and swinging her polearm, Aran managed to injure Magnus's back before she used the butt of her polearm and sent Magnus flying. The nova gritted his teeth and extended his wings, soaring in the air. "Not bad girl. Every consider joining our side? We can 'spar' now and then its not often i get a fun match." Magnus said with a smirk.

"No thanks, I'd rather not deal with evil. If you weren't with the black mage we could have been good rivals." Aran said scoffing. "A shame really." Magnus tutted with a disappointed smirk.

They crossed weapons once more.

XXX

Mercedes was pissed, she was enraged and when she's enraged, heads roll. Why you ask? Its because Hilla was taunting her and making quite unnecessary comments "That battle uniform is _so_ yesterday and if you're an elf why show your ears to the world? Are you an exhibitionist?" '_You're not one to talk!_' Mercedes yelled in her head. Despite them being covered in injuries and Mercedes's continuous rain of arrows as well as Hilla's own spell casting this commenting continued and Mercedes(appearance be damned)can't take it any longer.

"_**You are so dead.**_"

XXX

EunWol stood there panting as he eyed his opponent, who was exhausted as well. The pirate really didn't want to continue fighting this man, this man whose intention was never to hurt. Every time the demon brought his mace down to attack, there would be a split second hesitation as if he was confused about something before steeling himself to attack.

But as the demon stretched his leathery black wings and charged on, EunWol knew there was no way he could back out, so the pirate brought his knuckle to parry before twisting around and slamming his leg onto Demon's stomach. The demon flew back but flipped around once and landed on the floor before taking flight again.

"Tell me pirate, what is your name?" the demon suddenly asked. "EunWol, might I inquire what is yours?" the demon scoffed "I'm your enemy don't be so polite. But I will tell you my name, its Valfor. Now stop holding back and give me all you got." EunWol heeded the request, empowering his knuckle with the surrounding spirits before calling upon the spirit of the land, the spirit stood beside him while cracking its fists.

"Come, if _you_ hold back, I don't guarantee that you will come out of this in one piece." EunWol stated, Valfor started filling his mace with rage and fury but not because of EunWol but rage because of something else that the demon himself did not know.

XXX

Phantom stared at Orchid with recognition "You're the sister of the one who tried to harm Aria!" he panted, clutching the wound that was made by his carelessness. "Oh so you know about me? You'll pay for killing my brother!" Orchid growled and slashed Phantom with her weapon which the thief managed to sidestep in time. "Why did you have to kill him?! He was the only one in this world that I had left!" Orchid yelled as tears streamed down her face.

"I'm not nice young lady. He was threatening to kill someone close to me, the only one I had." Phantom said as his purple eyes narrowed at Orchid's form. _Its seems I can't copy any of her skills, bummer it looked interesting too._ "So what now? You going to kill me?" Phantom asked.

"I'm going to make you pay for my brother's death! Beg to him for an apology in the afterlife!"

XXX

Luminous glared at the spirit in front of him "So why are you, a guardian of the forest, helping the black mage?" Guwaru snorted "Its because he gave me power! Don't you want power?" Luminous swiftly replied "I may seek it when I require it, but thirsting for power isn't the only thing that matter to me." Luminous spun his shining rod and a hail of light magic rain down on Guwaru, the forest guardian flinched at the attack as he endured it before attempting to smack the light mage with his fist. But as did the last few attempts, the mage teleported away.

Luminous barely had a scratch on him while Guwaru felt like he was about to crumble into pieces, the forest guardian levitated some rubble and flung it towards the light mage only for it to be teleported _again_. "Stay still!"

Luminous snorted "Who on maple would do that? I for one do not enjoy the feeling of earth trampling me."

XXX

Freud didn't like Arkarium, it was the first thing he thought when he saw the old mage. Afrien and Nagini(Arkarium's snake) were fighting it out at one side while Freud and Arkarium just glared at each other. They hadn't move as they argued over facts and logic, an intellectual battle.

But Arkarium didn't like the fact that Freud was winning. The scholar was by far better with knowledge then Arkarium and the old mage didn't quite enjoy the feeling of being bested. So it soon turned from throwing small rubble into an all out fire ball war.

'_So much for trying to go for the diplomatic, civilized and peaceful method_.' Freud thought as he dodged a black fire ball and counter attacked, this time singeing the man's beard much to his amusement and to the old mage's rage.

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**Okay~ So this is about them battling and Evan trying to convince Von Leon! I wonder what would happen to Evan now~**

**Well since no one's available i'll do it!**

**Please Review~**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey there~**

**AbyssalDaemon- Haha~ I'm glad you're enjoying this story~ Yes Freud will eventually find out but i can't say about Rhinne though, who know's what i have in plan~ :P**

**Well then, off to the chapter~**

* * *

Evan woke up to the funny feeling of someone petting his head, the brunette squeaked and immediately turned to the one who was petting him, Von Leon. Evan pouted before noticing that his injuries are healed. "I healed them for you using potions, that was the least I could do." Von Leon said while chuckling at the boy's reaction. "And why were you petting me?"

"Your hair looked soft." Von Leon said looking completely serious making Evan sweat drop. "Weird reason….oh god! How long was I out?!" Evan asked hastily. "An hour, quite a fast healing rate actually." The brunette nodded before pushing himself up and throwing his hood on. "And where do you think you're going?" Von Leon asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I need to go help the others. Do you want to come?" Von Leon gave a wide smirk as he cracked his knuckles "Thought you would never ask, I have a fellow commander to meet with. I was hoping you'll let me join you because I doubt this…Freud person would trust me so easily. By the way, I haven't caught your name."

"Its Evan." The brunette said while grinning at the thought of a new ally and beckoned to Von Leon, signifying his answer as the two dash through the hallway.

XxX

When the former commander and Evan had arrived at the scene, the place look unrecognizable. The beautiful and artistically crafted pillars and walls were nothing more then rubble now. Evan saw EunWol unconscious while his back was leaning against a broken pillar and Valfor collapsed on the floor at one corner, Luminous stood in front of a pile of rubble that was once Guwaru, the mountain of rocks were slowly reforming but Luminous blasted them to pieces each time, leaving Guwaru no chance of regenerating. The rest of the commanders however, were smirking like they were onto a big joke. "This is bad, your friends probably didn't know that the black mage gave us something that will help us regenerate slowly during battle." Von Leon said while ripping out a black necklace and throwing it onto the floor.

"Is that the object?" Evan asked. Von Leon nodded and eyed it with disgust "I refuse to have anything that that asshole gave to me. Luckily he doesn't give such gifts so often." Von Leon scoffed. Evan scanned the heroes while measuring the extent of their injuries and quickly formulated that they would not be able to hold on for long. The brunette turned to face Von Leon at sound of the lion's teeth grinding as he glared at Hilla.

Evan chanted a magic buff and Von Leon smirked in gratitude before transforming, the large beast roared as it charged out of the hallway with enraged eyes. Hilla smirked "Looks like someone finally decided to show up, might as well give up you're out numbered." Mercedes glanced behind with shock as Von Leon charged towards them, she held her cross bow gun out but was surprised when the beast slashed at Hilla instead.

"H-Hey! Is your eyes broken or something?! The enemy is that way!" Hilla pointed at Mercedes. Von Leon scoffed "I will NEVER forgive you, you witch!" He growled and slammed both fists downwards, which Hilla managed to avoid by a hair.

"An internal argument?" Phantom asked Freud who was nearby, the scholar shrugged as he sent waves of water at Orchid who was planning on attacking Phantom when he wasn't looking "Pay attention." Arkarium sent a black lightning bolt at Freud which pierced the auburn mage at his thigh. "I would say that you should do the same."

"Freud!" Phantom yelled and attempted to dash to the scholar's side if not for Orchid's interference "Your opponent is me pretty boy." She growled. Von Leon was relentlessly attacking Hilla, Mercedes use this chance to do the same as well, the elf queen had not forgotten what Hilla had said not too long ago.

"And THAT is for insulting my ears!" She yelled while her arrow pierced Hilla's leg, Von Leon would have sweat dropped if not for the seriousness of the situation. Magnus 'tch'ed, Aran prevented the nova from going over there to slice Von Leon into two.

"Just give up. You barely can stand much less try to wound me with that toothpick of yours." Maha was pissed that he was being called a 'toothpick' Aran gripped the weapon tighter to prevent it from rashly attacking Magnus. "Need I remind you that this toothpick caused your injuries? It would be hilarious if rumors went out that you were heavily injured because of a 'toothpick'." Magnus bit into the bait easily and charged towards Aran.

Meanwhile, Evan who was forgotten at a corner was arguing with a black jar that he finally managed to find in his inventory. "Come on pretty please!"

'_Kid, I'm not your tool._' the thing growled inside Evan's head.

"I never said you were! I'm begging you here! Could you please help me get those necklaces?" the thing scoffed.

'_Get it yourself, I thought that cloak would help you blend and not be noticed._'

"It wouldn't work on them if there are no large crowds to help me hide my presence! And besides, if they knew I was targeting it, they would make it so that it would be harder to get, its easier if you took them all at the same time! Come on pleaseeeee." Evan whined in his childish self.

'_So first you trap me here, refuse to let me out, have not spoken to me until now except that one time when you really needed me and you expect me to help you?_'

"Hey, wanting to be trapped in there was your idea, I couldn't let you out if you had no medium or you would disappear and I was busy!" The thing scoffed again '_Alright alright, just stop screaming. I swear if I go deaf I will bloody slaughter you._' Evan smiled and hugged the jar, laughing when he felt the jar shiver. '_You do that again and I will kill you when I get out._'

The jar started releasing its black magic and multiple pitch black arrow headed chains soon came out, it snaked its way towards the commanders and swiftly shattered the weak chains holding the necklace before it grabbed the necklace and brought it back, causing all the participants in the battle to freeze.

"But that's…..!" Arkarium began "The black mage's chains." Magnus finished while tracing the long cut that the chain inflicted on his chest with a growl. "But that shouldn't be possible!" Hilla and Orchid screamed. Von Leon was silent as he eyed Evan with wide eyes. The heroes also pieced together what happened and stared at the jar warily as the chains reeled back inside.

'_Oh? This thing seems pretty useful, I'll be draining it of its mana kid._' Evan gave the go ahead and watched as the jar absorbed the black mana and spat the necklace back out when there was nothing left. '_bleeh, tasted like crap. Though I did managed to recover a bit. Don't disturb me when I'm sleeping kid._' Evan just stuffed the jar back into his cube inventory and took out his wand before joining into battle.

XXX

Mir turned left and right to avoid trees as Rhinne held on for dear life, the dragon growled as he sensed the black mage coming after him while launching every dark magic spell he knew to deter the dragon from escaping. "Umm Mir was it? Where are we going?" Rhinne asked after the dragon twisted around again, they had long left the temple of time and were currently somewhere in the forest.

"Master told me to bring you to Miss Alicia if we were chased by the black mage since she has the power to shelter you." Mir explained and Rhinne breathed a sigh of relief "For a moment there, I thought you two didn't managed to completely plan it out." Mir roared as one of the black mage's spell singed his leg. "Mir! Are you alright? Shouldn't you rest?" Mir shook his head "No...need, we're almost there…..!" Mir grunted out as he flew faster towards the world tree.

XXX

Hilla screamed as she dissipated into black mist as Von Leon thrusted his claws through her body, the lion sent his lasers at the black mist who slipped away and fled the area, the lion gritted his fangs, how could he have forgotten that that technique was Hilla's final failsafe?! The witch would reform after sometime but would not fully die if he could not eradicate that mist.

Von Leon glanced down at the elf queen who was panting on the floor as his eyes trailed to the other heroes, any further and they might die if this battle continued. Von Leon's eyes met with Evan's and they both nodded, the lion gently picked up Mercedes much to the elf's protest before smacking Magnus away when the nova was close to exhaustion and picked up the already fallen Aran.

Evan picked up EunWol and Von Leon went over to pick Valfor much to the brunette's surprise. "You mentioned him before you collapsed." the lion said promptly and grabbed EunWol from Evan's shoulders. Freud saw what they were doing and motioned for Phantom and Luminous who could still move to retreat to Lumiere. "Von Leon could you please hand them to Freud for treatment? I'll hold them off here, tell mister Freud to escape and that Rhinne would most likely have been brought to the world tree for protection." Evan said as he materialized Luminous's shining rod and fired off several blasts of light magic to cut off Orchid and Arkarium from chasing them. Von Leon nodded and went to the scholar's side.

"Leave now." The lion roared as he slashed Nagini away and placed Aran, Mercedes and EunWol on Afrien's back. Freud didn't need to be told twice as he told Afrien to return to Lumiere "And you?" he asked Von Leon. "I cannot leave that boy fighting alone, I have my own ways of escaping but the boy did say to tell you that if you wanted to find the goddess of time, she would be at the world tree. Now Leave!" Freud hesitated and only began to move when Von Leon shot his laser at him in warning, the scholar dragged Phantom and Luminous back before they took off.

Von Leon clutched Valfor gently in one paw and ran back to where Evan was to find the boy holding strong against the two remaining commanders. Although the brunette seemed out of breathe and mana, he was still battling against the two and even managed to push them back "They've gone now, we need to move too." Von Leon said and abruptly grabbed Evan before leaping of the temple of time. Evan screamed and yelled at the sudden move until the lion turned back into his human form and whistled, a large drake caught the three of them and took off, the brunette turned his head back to see Orchid and Arkarium flinging magic spells and very unpleasant words at them to no avail before collapsing from exhaustion.

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**Hehe~ You guys thought that Valfor would be confronted by Evan first right? Ha! Nope~ Von Leon was first(and unexpected)~ Alright, lets play the guessing game! (Though its probably very easy anyway) Who's the ****mysterious black jar~?**

**Evan: Zzz...**

**Fang: He's asleep. I'll end this~**

**Please Review~**


	13. Chapter 12

"Ow! Ow!" Phantom whined as his maid applied alcohol on his wounds, Luminous frowned in irritation "Will you shut up?" Phantom pouted "Hey it hurts more then a scratch with a knife! How are you handling this so well anyway!" The maid finished Luminous treatment and handed the light mage his patched up robes which Luminous nodded in gratitude before putting it on. "Its because Phantom, injuries were more common when I started training, I'm used to the medication that was applied as well."

"Well excuse me for being able to dodge better and not suffer so many injuries!" Phantom protested, Luminous scowled before walking out of the infirmary and into a room where Freud was resting with a book. "Freud, you sensed that the mysterious jar held the black mage's power right?" Freud nodded as he placed his book down.

"Yes, and not a small amount either. Something was inside and slowly recovering in there." Freud elaborated. "You know Freud, I myself am getting quite frustrated with that man." The two mages turned to see Phantom leaning against the door. "I was wondering why it finally stopped screeching. So why are you frustrated with the hooded man anyway?"

Phantom threw up his hands in exaggeration "Well first he's helping your little group, next he somehow knows that the black mage would occupy the temple of time and after that he somehow got one of the commanders to follow him as well as kidnapping another commander! He has too many damn secrets!"

Luminous who was standing next to Freud smirked "And you're one to talk?" Freud had a faint smile at that. "Alright, so I have as many secrets as my clothes but still, I'm quite tempted to just kidnap that guy, tie him to a tree and just ask what on maple is he planning!" Freud pondered about that "Actually, why don't we?" Phantom and Luminous who usually bickered at each other turned to Freud and one word came out.

"Huh?"

XXX

The drake dropped the three at El Nath where Evan and unconsciously, Valfor was shivering at the cold. The brunette turned to Von Leon who had his thick fur coat and groaned making Von Leon smirk "Why, can't handle the cold?" Evan settled for glaring at Von Leon before following the lion man in, slinging Valfor on his shoulder. Von Leon entered his castle and watched as his servants scattered around while looking afraid, had he really caused all of this?

"My people, I have returned!" Von Leon yelled out with excitement, his advisors, maids and butlers stared at the man with shock before it turned to happiness as they knew it could only mean one thing, Von Leon had truly returned back to what he once was. "I will no longer serve the black mage! You have my most sincere apologies for putting you through this pain!" The servants were cheering happily while the butlers ushered them in with a smile.

"Are these your guests sir?" Von Leon nodded "Yes and they need treatment, the two of them will stay in my room, prepare extra beds for them." his butler bowed and got things ready. "You sure its fine for Valfor and me to be in your room?" Evan asked.

"Its much more effective that way, at least when he wakes up the first thing wouldn't be to run. Besides, I got along with him best when I was a commander." Von Leon shrugged as he gestured for Evan to follow him. The brunette stared in shock when he saw how huge Von Leon's room was. "No wonder you can stuff two more beds here, its huge!" Von Leon chuckled as his servants came in to treat both of their wounds. Evan stared at Valfor's battered body while flinching "What did EunWol do to him anyway?" he whispered under his breath, Von Leon was just sitting there while observing the maids work patiently and thanked them when they were done.

"So now to more serious matters, Evan, what was that jar you used? I could sense the black mage's evil magic in it." Evan pushed away his hood before taking the jar out to elaborate "Yes it sort of _is _the black mage's energy. But you don't have to worry, this person means no harm." the jar rattled in protest as if saying he was an incredibly dangerous thing.

"Person? And how can you tell anyway?" Evan smiled before placing the jar down "Yes it's a 'person', I know because we're friends." the jar shook more violently this time but no harm was felt, Evan knew that the jar was shaking out of embarrassment and not anger, that was how that person usually was. Von Leon himself seemed amused at the answer "Alright, but if he poses a threat I will have to get rid of it." Evan immediately chucked it into his inventory, he really didn't want the jar to be shattered.

"Onto the next question, why do you want to meet Valfor so badly?" Evan's eyes softened at the sleeping commander "Its for the same reason as you. The black mage is just using him and abusing his softness of his own family." Von Leon growled but questioned no further as he crashed onto the bed "I'm beat, you'll have to watch over him yourself till I wake up, night….." and just like that Von Leon fell asleep. Evan smiled before staring at Valfor.

XXX

Mir panted as he watched Lumiere descend near the world tree, the black mage had angrily tried to shatter the barrier that Alicia had created but because the barrier contained the power of two transcendent combined, the black mage efforts were futile as the tyrant did not have the power required to shatter it and just spat out unpleasant words before vowing that he would return. Mir had barely made it to the world tree with his body scratched and his wings slightly charred, he casted healing spells on himself but it would take time for it to successfully take effect as Evan was not there to help increase the spell's effect.

The dragon glanced at Freud, Phantom and Luminous who came out as the others were far too injured to move. Mir stood up with shaky claws and bowed "Miss Alicia and Rhinne are in there, you can find them if you go further in." Mir panted, surprising the three that he could speak human language before stretching his wings in an attempt to fly, Freud noticed this and tried to stop the dragon "Cease moving. You are in no condition to fly right now. You must rest."

"Master needs me! Let go!" Mir yelled as he shook Freud off "Your master won't be happy if you forced yourself and got more injured now would he?" Phantom said with a raised eyebrow as Luminous helped Freud up. Mir froze at that, the last time he did that, Evan was so furious for not considering his own health and promptly ignored him for a week. Phantom glanced at Freud and sighed, he transformed one of his cartes into a potion, shook it before throwing it onto the ground near the dragon.

Mir felt dizzy before he passed out on the floor muttering about food. "Ah my favorite, sleeping gas. Makes my job much more easier." Phantom explained when Freud gave him a questioning look. "As long as you don't harm him." Freud said before looking over Mir's injuries, he took out a few potions and fed the dragon with Luminous and Phantom's help. The three then went further in and soon found Rhinne and Alicia enjoying a cup of tea.

"So you've finally arrived." Rhinne said with serene smile "I thank you for your endeavors to save me, it prevented the black mage from completely stealing my powers." The three bowed in respect "Please transcendent, we were merely to distract the commanders to buy time for you to escape. The hooded individual and his partner dragon was the one that did most of the work."

"You still call him as hooded individual? Did he not tell you his name?" The three shook their heads. "I see, he's afraid I suppose. That's probably why." Freud perked up at that "Afraid of what exactly? We have actually come to you to see if you had more information on what to do as well as that man's identity." Rhinne gave a sad smile.

"You see, he has his own story to tell, I cannot do it for him. However, I can tell you this, he is from the future and his name is Evan, the dragon outside is Mir. As long as you approach him carefully, he should give way sooner or later, how he accomplishes his task is solely up to him." Freud nodded while filing the information in. "And your suggestion to make him give way is…..?" Phantom drawled.

For some reason, Alicia started giggling "Why don't you go with your original plan of tying him to a tree? I'm sure it would work." and cue the faint embarrassed blush from the three. Rhinne laughed as well "That method is up to you, he has more information on what to do now then me, I suggest you go look for him, I would be staying here with Alicia." The three nodded before hastily excusing themselves.

XxX

"I didn't know that the transcendent could hear what we were planning. Frankly I still think simple is the best." Phantom said with a smirk. "Yes yes, lets worry about asking after we find him." Freud said with a faint smile. Luminous was grumbling quietly about embarrassing himself in front of the transcendents. "Well finding him is fairly easy, we just need to follow Mir when he wakes up." Phantom elaborated.

"Do you go through your career as a thief with such simplified plans?" Freud asked. "Of course, simplicity has its elegance." The three arrived outside to see the dragon begin to stir from his sleep. Phantom immediately grabbed his carte and whispered to the skies, teleporting them back on his ship. "Renault, fly the ship and hide it in the midst of clouds. When that dragon awakes I want you to follow it!" Phantom yelled and his captain yelled an affirmative.

Down below, Mir woke up wondering why he was sleeping on a hard rock surface since it was extremely uncomfortable. Mir stretched his wings, gave it two strong flaps before taking off.

Back at Lumiere, Phantom smirked.

* * *

**Yup, our beloved master thief has incredible plans.**

**Phantom: Are you insulting me dear Fang?**

**Fang: Of course not! Then i'd be insulting myself because i think the same~**

**Phantom: Really now?**

**Fang: Yes, yes. But enough talk, end this!**

**Phantom: Please Review~**


	14. Chapter 13

The black mage wanted to kill something, he glanced at his injured commanders and growled in anger "You mean to tell me that even with all of you here you still couldn't capture Freud's little group?! Pathetic!" Arkarium and Orchid refused to look at enraged slits "Punishment, all of you!" Arkarium then meekly spoke up "B-but my lord, what off that traitor Von Leon and Valfor?" The black mage scoffed "We will deal with Von Leon later, his castle is irritatingly well guarded. But as for demon, wipe out his home! I leave you in charge Arkarium. DON'T disappoint! Orchid you will suffer punishment with the rest!" Orchid and Arkarium bowed in acceptance.

But just then, the black mage ordered "Also call out to the dream manipulator, I have a job for her." The two shivered at the name but complied to the order nonetheless.

XXX

"Evan, what does Valfor's family even look like?" Von Leon asks. Evan hummed to himself before replying "I don't know, I just know that they live in South Minar forest, I didn't get much information after that." Von Leon stood and stretched "Well then, I'm off to Minar forest." Evan stared at Von Leon with confusion "I wouldn't put it past the black mage to think that Valfor missing is an act of betrayal and would intentionally wipe out his family, I'm just going to relocate them here." Evan made the classic 'I-got-it' gesture.

"You seem really nice to Valfor." Evan stated as he watched Von Leon sheathed his sword and pick out potions "You could say that he was a 'friend', he's the one who understands me most. Valfor also helped me so its more of me repaying my debt to him." Von Leon said as he opened the window and whistled, the drake from before came and took the lion away.

Just then, Valfor stirs from his sleep as his eyes try to focus on his location, seeing Evan without his hood immediately got him to react as he tried looking for his weapon, only to find it resting beside the boy. "Relax, I'm not trying to harm you." Evan says as he raised both his hands up.

"I doubt it, you were the mage that was fighting Arkarium earlier weren't you?" Evan shook his head "Unfortunately no. That was a scholar who goes by the name Freud, I'm just a really shady person, my name is Evan." Valfor raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Alright, assuming you're telling the truth. Where are we and why have you brought me here?" Valfor asks while his eyes trailed to his weapon, if only…..Valfor glanced up as Evan gave a short laugh before gripping Valfor's mace and flinging it towards him. Valfor caught it easily and stared at Evan in confusion "If it make you feel any better around me then you can have it. Just hear me out Valfor." The demon weighed his opinions before gesturing him to go ahead.

"If I remember correctly, you work for the Black Mage because of his promise to keep your family safe right?" Valfor stared at him before silently nodding. "Let me ask you, what makes you think he will keep his promise? Truly tell me, how much worth does that tyrant's words have?" There it was, he knew it! The spell that the black mage cast on Von Leon was also on Valfor! But it seemed weaker, as if all this while he had been questioning himself. "I…don't know. He protected my family once when there was an attack while I was hunting…..and then, he told me he could do the same should this happen again if I joined him."

Valfor's brow was scrunched up in thought, he was questioning this Evan knew. "Protected your family? From monsters that could have possibly been sent by him?" Evan prodded further. Valfor gripped his head trying to think past all this distraction, there were voices, they were hissing that what the boy was saying was untrue. Before he knew it, the brunette was kneeling in front of him with his palm out in front of his face while his other hand gripped at Valfor's wrist to prevent him from swinging his mace. "I won't hurt you, just stay still." The fog hissed in agony before it evaporated, leaving him able to think clearly.

"Alright, you should be able to think clearly now." Valfor nodded in thanks as he tried to recall the events on that day "The black mage didn't protect my family." Valfor growled "He threatened it! He told me that if I didn't serve him he could always get rid of mother and Damien!" Evan was holding the demon back, his injuries had not fully healed yet and going anywhere was just suicide. But something was bothering him, for Von Leon, the fog just prevented him from speculating the truth. But for Valfor, it was an entirely different thing. Had the black mage manipulated the demon's memory?

"W-wait! You can't do anything right now, you're injured! Just rest!" Valfor didn't listen "My family is in trouble now! The black mage is going to target them!" Evan forcibly pushed Valfor back onto bed before casting a binding spell. "Just let me explain! Von Leon is on the way to bring your family back here for protection! So stop struggling and rest!" The demon stopped at the sound of Von Leon's name.

"Von Leon has betrayed the black mage?" Evan nodded "He found out the truth about his wife, he broke free of Black mage's spell. We're currently working together, do you want to join as well?" Valfor hesitated, Evan could tell the commander was trying to process all this information and was extremely tired from all the struggling. The brunette released the binding spell before casting one that made the demon drowsy.

"I….want to….confirm…..if what….you say…..is true…when…..Von Leon….returns….let…me….talk to….him…" Valfor requested sleepily and watched as Evan smiled before pulling up the blanket. "Alright. But get some rest. El Nath is cold so getting sick here wouldn't be fun." Valfor laughed slightly at the mother hen tone before falling asleep. Evan chuckled before doing the same as well, convincing someone was tough!

XXX

Mir flew from the world tree towards the cold mountains of El nath, the dragon followed his instinct as his pact pointed the reptile towards the frosty cold land. Mir had stopped several times for a few short moments break and continued flying for two days now without a long adequate break, frankly it was worrying Freud. The scholar wanted to go down there and force the dragon to rest, but seeing it look so determined, the mage had just decided to watch it from afar.

Phantom often did the same if Luminous was not around because the two just seem to rub each other the wrong way. Speaking of the light mage, he was meditating in his room as EunWol, Aran and Mercedes had just woken up and were curious as to what Freud was doing. "Why are we following that dragon Freud?" EunWol questioned as he sat beside the mage.

"Because its going to lead us to Evan." Freud stated. "Evan?" Mercedes asked. "The hooded individual, Rhinne was kind enough to inform us his name." Phantom said with a smirk. "What for?" Aran questioned further as she was cleaning Maha. "Apparently Evan has some sort of link to the future and it could be useful to us." Freud said as his worried blue eyes glanced at Mir once more. "Okay, so what makes you think he would willing tell us if every time he sees any of us he just runs away." Mercedes stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh that's simple, we plan to tie him to a tree and interrogate him." Phantom replied with a shrug. EunWol, Aran and Mercedes stared at him with a look that said 'Really?' "Hey don't look at me like that. Freud even agreed to this plan." Looks of disbelief turned towards the auburn haired mage who was currently distracted.

"I'm worried, Mir, that dragon over there has been flying non-stop for two days now. I doubt he'll listen if I tell him to take a break." Phantom once again smirked "Well now El nath is but a day away, he should be sensible enough to take a rest once he gets there." _'I hope so.'_ Freud thought before sighing as he took out a novel to read.

XXX

Three days, it took two days to fly there and a day for Von Leon to locate Valfor's family. Von Leon checked over what he did wrong as he glanced around the very homey house which seemed warm and inviting. Vafor's brother was peering at him through his room, though Von Leon found this rather endearing he still didn't know how he got into this. Valfor's mother was a very sweet lady, she had immediately invited him in when he said he was a friend of the demon which was a very naïve move, what if he had been an enemy? But the lion honestly didn't really expect this, in front of the red haired man was a plate of cookies and a cup of milk.

What did Valfor's mother think he was, five?!

But still, not wanting to disappoint, he bit into the food as Valfor's mother hummed happily to herself. "So why did you come here for mister Von Leon?" The lion wanted to cheer in relief "Right now the Black mage is probably going to target you. I'm here to bring you to safety." the once cheerful eyes dimmed as she stared at Von Leon's eye with sadness.

"That child has been doing all he can to ensure that we live peacefully, even going as far to make a deal with that tyrant. As his mother I couldn't even do anything, it feels a bit frustrating." Von Leon couldn't help but sympathize with the woman, Valfor was forced into doing evil, he didn't have a choice. "I don't mind going with you, I can tell you've been honest with me. But if the black mage is going to attack here, I doubt that he would only target this small house, he would probably burn down the whole Minar forest! I can't be so selfish as to escape alone, there are other people living here too, we some have to warn them."

Von Leon thought of something and gave a toothy grin "Leave that to me, please pack up." Although a bit suspicious on what the red haired man's plan was, she nodded before ushering Damien to pack up for a long 'trip'.

XXX

Von Leon cracked his neck as he transformed into his huge lion form. Screams of 'monster!' was yelled throughout Minar forest as the lion aimed his lasers at places where there was no people, the villagers of the nearby village screamed and fled. Von Leon continued this process until there was no one in sight except for him and Valfor's mother as well as Damien who was staring at the lion with wide eyes. The mother chuckled before saying "I must say that Valfor has made interesting friends." Von Leon smirked before transforming back and whistled for his drake that landed in front of the three.

Damien looked like he was a having a blast as he tugged on Von Leon's 'mane' in curiosity before bouncing on top of the drake.

Von Leon gave a mock bow before extending his right hand, helping the demon's mother on board, making her giggle "Polite and a gentleman too." Von Leon commanded the drake to take off as he eyed the monsters that were marching towards Minar forest and sighed in relief, at least he had made it in time.

XxX

Arkarium yelled in anger as he burnt down the home only to find it empty, they had been one step ahead! Even his monsters were whining because there was no one around, the forest was vacant and empty. As Arkarium burnt the forest and ordered for a retreat, he hoped that the Black Mage wouldn't be too harsh in his punishments.

* * *

**Well then a tad bit rushed but still. Don't worry valfor's mom would get a name soon because i don't know her canon name i'll make one up~**

**Evan: Will i finally meet the others?**

**Fang : Yeah sure~ But what happens would be a secret until next chapter~**

**Evan: Aww.**

**Fang: Alright chop chop! End this~**

**Evan: Please Review~**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey there~**

**Anon- haha~ I'm glad you love Evan and his sneaky ways, gotta learn something after being with the master thief for so long~ As for the ships, hmm~ I actually _do_ have shippings in mind~ You guessed one of them right, Aran and EunWol then there's Phantom and Aria. But what about the rest? I'll give you a big hint on the third one! It involves our dear elf queen and the root abyss trailer~ And the last one is about Lumi! Haha, you'll have to figure the rest out.**

**EK12- I love the way you make it sound like that jar is an ancient genie lamp or something~ Haha you guessed right! Its our dark and destructive mage Eclipse! *Hands a cookie trophy*Though you made me think of eclipse mints because of that lol. I'm glad you like this story as well~**

**Now then, on with the chapter~**

* * *

Phantom sighed for the nth time today, he glanced at Freud who was once again taking care of Mir. They had arrived at El Nath but Mir had exhausted himself, yet the dragon still wanted to fly. Freud had decided he had enough and promptly knocked out the dragon for some rest, seriously, that scholar was far too kind hearted.

But still….Phantom saw Freud's eyes soften as he glanced at the dragon beside him, the thief honestly felt a bit jealous that Freud's usual stone face expression had turned into one that was very gentle because of Mir. "Phantom," Freud called out "Why don't you spar with the others? It should be more productive then just staring at me." Phantom donned his usual smirk before replying "Are you kidding me? Knowing Luminous, Aran and Mercedes instead of sparring with me, they'll try to kill me for real and EunWol's techniques are far too dangerous looking if I get hit. Plus, Afrien doesn't like me much."

Freud chuckled before petting the space on the flat ground beside him "Alright then, at least help me take care of Mir." The thief was shocked that he was quite happy to oblige to that request.

XXX

Evan couldn't help himself, honest. The brunette was trying to hold in all sorts of laughter as he glanced at Valfor who was blushing while looking very embarrassed. Evan could tell by the large grin Von Leon had that he was enjoying this thoroughly. What was the cause of this amusement you ask? Its because Valfor's mother hadn't stopped mother henning her child ever since Von Leon came back and brought her and Damien with him. Valfor couldn't tell his mother to stop as he was feeling far to awkward to do so and it certainly didn't help that his very own brother and his two companions, Evan and Von Leon was trying very obviously not to laugh.

"And what did I say about your clothing? You should change it once in awhile and also-" "Alright I get it mother!" The demon's mother just gave a gentle smile before hugging her son "I'm just glad you're safe." Valfor tried to awkwardly hug back, showing such emotions was uncommon for the former commander. Von Leon told his butler to prepare another room as the maids ushered Valfor's mother and Damien to their rooms.

There was an awkward silence between the three, until Evan broke it. "Its alright Valfor, mothers are always like that with their children. I mean besides the fact that they can naturally nag at you like that while unintentionally leaking your secrets is perfectly-" The brunette didn't go any further because of the glare that Valfor was giving him, it was quite literally trying to burn a hole through him. "You better." He grunted out, there was some private things he rather the world not know about.

The two former commander then stared at each other "Consider me protecting your family a debt repaid." Von Leon said. Valfor nodded at the lion man with appreciation "I would have never thought that you would betray the black mage." Valfor said with suspicion in his voice. "I didn't expect for you to do the same either, what a few truthful words could do to you huh?" Evan squeaked before trying to hide himself as the two stared at him. "I-It was nothing really! I didn't want you guys to be used only to be thrown aside when you're done that's all….." The brunette mumbled.

"Well nonetheless I appreciate it. Now then why don't we get something to eat?" Von Leon said while gesturing for the two to follow him into the dining room.

XXX

Mir flapped his wings once then twice. Once again he had found himself sleeping on the ground. The dragon started to be suspicious but shrugged it off as finding Evan was his top priority. The dragon roared before taking off towards the castle at a distance, Mir flew into it bypassing shouting guards and smashed into the dining room. As the debris cleared, the dragon could see Von Leon and Valfor lifting their weapons while Evan charged towards him. "Mir! I'm so glad you're safe! You were pushing yourself weren't you? I could sense it." Evan said angrily and relived as he stared at the fidgeting dragon.

Von Leon was yelling to the guards that it was alright and that the dragon was a guest, not an enemy. The guards saluted before wandering back to their stations. Valfor sighed before putting his weapons down and went over to check if his family was hurt, luckily the debris hadn't hit them as they had just entered for lunch when Mir flew in. After a round of scolding Evan sighed but found himself tense when a new voice was heard.

"I must say, quite a nice castle here. I wonder if there are any nice artifacts in here." Evan twisted around and gasped when he saw the heroes standing behind him. "Phantom, do keep your hands to yourself." Freud chided. "I know, I know." Phantom sighed. Evan reached out for his hood only to find that it wasn't there, oh right, he had left his cloak in his room. Mercedes stared at Evan with shock "Freud he looks exactly like you! Forget about being 'similar'." Freud had to agree, he never exactly have a clear look at what the boy look like, just mere glimpses.

"How did you-" "Get here? Simple, your friend led you to us." Phatom explained while pointing at Mir, the dragon whined in apology as Evan petted him in assurance. The brunette glanced at Von Leon who had his sword out and Valfor who readied his mace while his eyes glanced at his family who was being escorted out. Freud turned to look at the others giving them a silent message as Mercedes and Aran went to intercept Valfor while Luminous and EunWol distracted Von Leon. Afrien charged and took off with Mir who was struggling under the bigger dragon's claws.

Evan who was momentarily stunned at the sudden attack was suddenly pinned to a pillar and found himself without weapons as he was tied there with a rope. "Wha-?" Phantom smirked "Well there's no trees here, we'll settle for a pillar." Evan had a look of confusion, what on maple was his mentor talking about?! He glanced at Von Leon and Valfor only to find them sheathing their weapons once the other four had finished saying something and gave Evan an apologetic, yet curious look. But they were tense and ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"Okay~ Interrogation time." Phantom said clapping his hands while giving a evil smirk, Evan inwardly shivered, the brunette knew that look, how could he not when training became two times more difficult because of it. Evan gulped before answering "Why do you need to interrogate me for?"

"We are merely curious of your motives, we mean no harm." Freud said in a serene and comforting tone. Making Evan feel _slightly_ relaxed "You've been operating in secret while leading the others to me. You even managed to get two of the black mage's commanders on your side, just what are you planning?" Evan fidgeted about, he currently had two options, either materialize Aran's weapon and cut the ropes before fleeing again or he could just tell the truth. Frankly he had been able to hide it longer then he thought he could, plus he had nothing on his mind that required him to be secretive. Also if he just told them what he was planning, then it would mean that he could work together with the heroes as well, so with the pros weighing more then the cons Evan sighed and slumped his shoulders and telepathically told Mir to stand down.

"I guess all of you are curious. Alright, I'll tell you. I've come from the future with intentions to change the past. Why? Its because in the future the Black Mage has succeeded in his evil plot and is currently ruling over the world." There were sudden gasps that filled the room. "D-Does that mean we've failed?" Mercedes asked, her voice nothing more then a whisper.

"Yes and No. The six of you including Valfor," Evan gestured towards the said people "failed to kill the black mage. As a result, Freud cast his final failsafe, that was to trap the Black Mage in time forever. In my time, Von Leon was still an enemy."

"Wait…..so if we succeeded in sealing the black mage in time, how come he still managed to take over the world in the end?" Aran questioned, Evan nodded before continuing "I was getting to that part. You see, he was _hoping_ that you sealed him, causing the world to lose one of its transcendent because ultimately his plan was to fuse the mirror world, which is a alternate dimension of Maple world together, in which he would finally be reborn as the transcendent of life."

"So we were playing into the palm of his hand all this time!" Freud said softly, Evan's gaze soften towards each of them "Yes and not only that, the sealing cost all of you a hard price. EunWol, I didn't even know you existed if not for Rhinne, you paid the price of your existence to power up the seal. Freud lost his life in the process and the rest was frozen in ice. It caused you to be horribly weakened when you were unsealed and not only that, Aran lost her memories, Valfor was trapped in a cocoon and was also weakened. Luminous, the black mage gave you something you never wished for."

"But wait, I understand if the black mage was sealed which made the world lose one of its transcendent but what of Alicia and Rhinne? Aren't they immortal?" Phantom questioned. "Yeah they're immortal, however in my time, the Black Mage succeeded in stealing Rhinne's powers and had eventually trapped Alicia as well and with him gone because of the time seal all three transcendents of maple world has disappeared, causing his plan to be brought to light. However, if the Black Mage is gone before he could deal with the other transcendents, it would ultimately end his plan. Alicia and Rhinne should be able to choose another transcendent to replace him before he abuses his power to once more be reborn, however, he can only be reborn as a transcendent of light, hence his plan."

"Okay…..then what is your relationship with all of us?" Luminous said with a frown. Evan's eyes started to become wet and tears fell onto the floor, causing the rest of the group to be stunned, for some reason some of them just wanted to comfort the boy and tell him everything was alright. "I….was the successor to Freud, the next dragon master. Phantom was my mentor, he was the one who taught me right from wrong, the rest of you also pitched in to teach me, you were like my family….but then, when you all had not fully developed new skills and recovered your old techniques, the Black Mage struck, he killed all of you. I only managed to survive because Phantom saved me. I was granted one chance to change it and that is if I eliminated the problem right from its roots, the new transcendent(s) of time sent me back here to do so."

"…So that's why you know Phantom, Aran, Mercedes and Luminous's techniques, you saw them multiple times and actually managed to learn them. But all this time you were bearing this pain? You know you could have just approached directly, sooner of later it would have happened." EunWol stated as he approached Evan to wipe away his tears. "I couldn't. If I did then I wouldn't have been able to do things more freely. I wouldn't have been able to jump in and interfere at certain times." The brunette said his voice soft. "So that's why you knew how to step in in time! Its because it had already happened!" Phantom said, finally realizing what had plagued him for quite some time.

"Then what do you plan to do now?" Von Leon finally spoke up. "As I said, I'll change the past. There is no option of sealing the black mage away, we would have to defeat him here and now. To do that, I'll help you acquire new skills and powers developed after re-training yourself, only this time, you would be able to learn them in time."

It was time for the student to teach his teachers.

* * *

**Haha~ That last line sounded epic! Though not entirely accurate, you'll know what i mean next time~**

**Evan: I finally meet them again! I'm...just so *sobbing***

**Fang: U-Umm Evan? Are you alright?**

**Evan: Y-Yeah, i'm fine just felt so relieved at seeing them again.**

**Fang: You'll have more interactions with them in the story now, so don't cry and end this alright?**

**Evan: O-Okay...Please Review...**


	16. Chapter 15

**Haha hey there guys~ No what do i have in mind for this chapter? Hmm~**

**PCheshire- Well i don't know on the pairings yet since its still not confirmed and i currently have no intention for pairing up Evan with somebody even if that threesome actually sounded nice~ But still considering so we'll have to wait and see~ And i do agree because Phantom needs some happiness and not be consumed in revenge! That's just...sad. Anyways! It will be different here~**

**EK12- Haha if did the battle like that it would be more of a crack fic because although i can see Phantom smacking the greatest tyrant ever with a roll of newspaper, it just doesn't go out like that with the rest haha...Well i do feel sorry about your friends but i don't know much about that as i'm not exactly adept at being social haha...but the Eclipse jar is cute i agree with that! (Maybe i should have stuffed him into something else hmm~ *Gets kicked by Eclipse*)**

**Fluffy Sakura-Chan- Oh so you were the anon! I was wondering lol~ For some reason Aran x EunWol does seem nice~ I don't know about using sorcery though, i can't use magic like Freud or Luminous~ Well yes but Mercedes x Valfor was what i had in mind but as i said to PCheshire its still under consideration as i'm still thinking about it. Yes you're right about certain things and i haven't answered it yet so no worries~ Okay, where to start? Well it is true if the Black Mage is defeated a lot of things would be screwed up, however things change and i can't say how it will turn out but it would definitely be settled, you're right when you say that certain characters wouldn't exist like Xenon or Zero twins but it would be straightened out in later chapters as i've not forgotten about them so no worries :) And as for time, I'm trying to make sense of Canon Maple's timeline, its completely out of whack but i'll sort it out soon, again it would change a few things but at least its more understandable. For cygnus, she was Aria's niece, therefore she was not her daughter and Aria living or dying would not change that fact, she would come in at a very late chapter or _maybe_ the last one as epilogue but i haven't planned out that far yet. But for your question on Evan hehe i'll be evil and keep that to myself XD So all in all, i've settled some things that you might need to know but kept important ones to myself :D Aren't i evil? lol. (P.S i don't mind the long review :D)**

**Pekiunai- Yes, everybody should get a happy ending! I believe in that completely and Evan is endearing even though he tries to act 'tough' it ain't going to fool me! I'm glad you enjoy this story and be patient, a lot of things is bound to happen ;)**

**Now onto the next chapter!**

* * *

To say that the group was stunned was a huge understatement, they were continuously pondering about the new found information. Von Leon had generously offered them to stay at his castle which they accepted after some hesitation however, seeing Evan having complete trust in the lion, they soon agreed. It was currently the middle of the night, Evan couldn't sleep as he peered outside the balcony from the castle's main room. "Well now, look who's here." Evan turned around to see Phantom in his sleeping attire.

"You couldn't sleep either mister Phantom?" The thief shook his head "Actually I've been waiting for you to come out. There was one thing I hadn't mentioned when we were interrogating you." Evan look at him in confusion. "That day when I encountered you in Ereve? When you tried to flee I managed to grab your wrist and I accidentally took a peak at what I think was your memory." Evan stared in shock, how was that possible? He didn't unintentionally leak anything then, had he?

"So what did you see?" Phantom didn't reply for a minute before he quoted "_I can and I will, it is my duty to you as your mentor and friend…_Ring a bell?" Evan couldn't help it, he started crying again. Those were the words Phantom had said as he carried Evan and dragged Mir back onto Lumiere to escape from the Black Mage. "Yeah…that was quite some time ago…..but I will never forget…" The brunette muttered as he wiped away his tears which leaked without any intention to stop.

Phantom immediately walked towards Evan and gave him a gentle embrace, the brunette wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist as he took in the thief's scent. "Although it was not my memory, I could sense it. I treated you like you were my own, I know it hurts and I might not know everything but you can still tell me. I'll hear you out." Phantom said while rubbing Evan's back comfortingly, Evan cried harder as he told his mentor everything that was plaguing him, all he wanted was Phantom's comforting presence and words before he slowly collapsed in exhaustion.

Phantom had carried the boy into his room, unaware that the other heroes as well as Von Leon and Valfor had came out to see what was the source of the crying and were hiding behind different pillars as they heard Evan and Phantom's interaction. "I didn't know that Phantom could be that gentle." Mercedes whispered, any thought of the thief causing harm was suddenly erased when he had heard the gentle tone in the thief's usually arrogant voice.

"See? I told you don't judge him too quick, he's actually a nice guy." EunWol said while giving a big smile at what he had witnessed. Luminous scoffed but didn't say anything. Aran usually cold gaze softened when she thought about Evan. "I'm glad that he finally managed to release some of his problems. He can heal us but he cannot heal his own wounds dealt in his heart." Von Leon said with a happy tone in his voice. Valfor said nothing as he and Luminous left the area, the two of them were not that well adept at showing emotions after all.

Freud clapped his hands twice and pointed to their rooms "Alright that's enough. We need rest so I suggest that everyone go to their rooms and get some sleep." The others were happy to oblige as they felt themselves slowly becoming tired from the lack of rest.

XxX

"….Mornin' everyone….." Evan said with a yawn, he felt mentally refreshed because of yesterday. The group replied evenly as he, and the still half asleep thief walked into the dining room. Curiously, they had not seen Mir since yesterday "So Evan, how do you plan on training us?" Freud asked curiously, he had seen the young mage duplicate some of their skills(Not counting his) but not to a fine extent that he could teach it. Evan stopped eating for a moment before replying "I have a method, however that only applies to some of you." The brunette said as he gestured to Phantom, Aran, Mercedes, Freud and Luminous. "EunWol, I was told by the goddess of time Rhinne not too long ago that you were thrown into a portal and was sent to an odd place right?"

"Yes that's correct, but I still haven't figured out where that portal came from." EunWol said while munching his breakfast. "Actually I was told that Rhinne did that so you can acquire your spirit wielding skills which was supposed to be obtained much later in the future. She says that you are to go back to relearn your skills and obtain new ones, the spirits will guide you but you have to return to pointy ear fox village first." EunWol seemed surprised that the goddess of time was the one that chucked him into that portal and the fact that Evan specifically knew the village's name but smiled afterwards. "Alright then, the villagers have been saying that I should visit more."

"As for Valfor and Von Leon, I don't exactly have much planned for you since I didn't know you very well but I-" Mir then slammed into the room, in between his teeth was a cat tail and connected to it was a struggling cat. "Master! I found the person that you told me to get!" Mir dropped the cat who immediately dashed to Valfor and quivered. "That giant lizard was about to eat me Master Valfor!" The demon looked surprised before glancing at a rather sheepish Evan. "Mastema? Why is she here?"

"Its because I had asked Mir to find her and bring her to Rhinne. The goddess of time gave her her future memories, she knows of your new skills and would be the one coaching you. But Von Leon I…..well….." The lion gave a smirk before cutting the mage off "Its fine, I planned on studying my family's ancient heritage. It should give me more knowledge on my beast form." Evan gave a sigh of relief that there was something the lion man could do before gobbling up his breakfast. "Alright we're set then. I need to prepare something first so once you guys are done could you see me at the living room?"

XxX

EunWol had said goodbye before entering a portal, Mastema brought Valfor into the forest. Von Leon had disappeared into archives of his library. The rest were waiting as Evan finished his circle and poured something that strangely looked like blood on three smaller circles. The brunette then slammed his wand down and whispered "Hero's spirit." and the circle started illuminating. "Alright guys I'm done. What I'm doing right now is to temporarily call back the spirits of the future version of you to take care of your training. Luminous, your training has two parts. Freud, I'll try to teach you the stuff I currently know."

The circle soon disappeared as the spirits appeared. "Hmm? I thought we died already?" Spirit Phantom said with confusion. The three look around until their gaze fell onto themselves and then to Evan. "Hi guys…..I don't have time to explain, could you teach the younger version of you your Hyper skills?" Evan said while gesturing to the three. "We don't exactly have choice do we?" Spirit Mercedes chuckled. Evan smiled sadly. The three spirits and their younger selves were then led to specific areas.

"Now then for Luminous." Evan dug around in his inventory until he found the black jar, causing Freud and Luminous to tense and step back. "Relax, he's not going to harm you, I think." The black jar rattled before saying in an eerie tone "Don't be so quick to judge. Ah Luminous, been awhile." the three could feel the jar smirking. "And why is this tainted thing supposed to coach me?" Luminous said in slight disgust.

"Remember when I said that the black mage gave you something you never wished for? This is it, his name is Eclipse, the dark magic that was forced into you. When I dispelled the black mist targeting after you, I had to get a bit of his help too. He's the first part of your training." _Certainly not the easiest though._ The jar rattled again, this time from feeling smug, it started cracking until it shattered much to Evan's shock. Eclipse stood there in all his terrifying glory as he gazed at a shocked Luminous. "You look just like me!" the light mage shouted.

"Pathetic as always." Eclipse said while giving a dark chuckle. Before Evan could say anything, Eclipse had chained Luminous and dragged him elsewhere. "I get to decide what to do with him kid." Eclipse had said promptly before disappearing. Evan wanted to shout that Eclipse wasn't suppose to _kill_ Luminous but the man disappeared before giving him the chance.

Evan sighed before turning to Freud, face serious. "I don't know how much I can teach you. I can only tell you what you haven't already achieved, your hyper skills. You have not started on this yet because you were more focused on your work that required more tactical thinking. Plus, the others were taking time to do their missions, they never had time to learn something new and develop it from scratch. So right now, it's a gamble on how fast you guys can learn before going back to taking missions to disrupt the black mage."

Freud gave a faint smile as Afrien stood beside him while Mir stood beside Evan "Lets get started then." the auburn haired mage said as he mounted Afrien, watching Evan do the same.

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**I feel happy at their reunion for some reason *wipes away tears and give a big happy smile***

**Evan is currently training Freud so i'll end this~**

**Please Review~**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey there~**

**PCheshire- Its already stated that the Black Mage of the future couldn't do anything because he doesn't not own the powers of time any more. Though there might be mentions of Alpha and Beta but for the future Black Mage? Currently still considering, haha this story is still developing so things might have a twist to it but that would be my secret~**

**Fluffy Sakura-chan- Well for some reason i share your view for Aran X EunWol because they for some reason fit~ Yes you are absolutely right. Freud is a scholar even before he met Afrien which means he has got to have study magic before and was a mage beforehand. However Evan started as a normal farm boy and knows nothing of the sort and only has his enhanced powers because of the spirit pact. But then again, Evan has been with the heroes and they should have thought of it at some point that Evan was defenseless should something happen to Mir and would have taught him basic things to defend himself. And again Evan isn't teaching Freud normal spells, he is teaching Freud his hyper skills~**

**Now then, on to the chapter~ (P.S It might be confusing so i'll clear stuff up now, for the dead heroes/ Valfor when i mention them it will be for example Spirit Phantom or Spirit Mercedes. Just to let you know so that it wouldn't confuse you~ Or it would be like dead thief or something~)**

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Damien watched as his brother continuously slammed into trees, running away from…..himself? The young child didn't understand how or why but every time his brother was sent flying into rocks or to the ground Damien wanted to rush out to see if he was okay but each and every time Valfor would stand back up with even more determination and intended hate that filled his strength. "Master Valfor please you have had enough! Your injuries are-"

"DON'T stop the training Mastema! I'm fine, I will clear this and I will get more power." Valfor shouted as he forced himself up "I will not risk to see them in danger. Never again." Valfor gritted his teeth as his leathery wings spread out and he took off to the skies. His copy followed and they were soon clashing into each other, gaining more and more speed as they accelerated further. For some reason, Damien knew that 'they' meant him and his mother.

Damien nodded to himself before dashing back into the castle, he knew who to find, that strange lion man! He should know a thing or two about fighting! Damien didn't want to stand back and watch his brother get injured just to protect him! The young demon then sped off to the library where he last saw Von Leon, he immediately slammed the door open causing Von Leon who was reading through ancient texts to jump up in shock and scramble for the flying documents.

Before Von Leon could say anything, Damien bowed to him and shouted "Mr Lion could you teach me how to fight?" Von Leon stared at the boy startled. "Why would you want to know that?" The red haired man asked as he calmed down before beckoning the child in further, the lion had always loved children but they were often afraid of him. "Because my brother Valfor keeps getting injured and I don't want to just watch!" Von Leon petted the child gently as he stood up.

"….And are you prepared? Learning to fight isn't something that can be done with half-assed determination. You will suffer injuries, pain and many other harsh things. Still, will you learn?" Damien nodded eagerly, he was prepared. He was prepared to be sent flying left and right and crashing into walls, Damien had resolved that he would learn to fight, or die trying. "Yes I'm prepared. So could you teach me?"

"…..Alright. I'll teach you how to stand your ground. But I don't know if Valfor would let me do something like this." Damien gave secretive smile "That's why could you not tell him? Please?" Von Leon sighed before chuckling "Fine, but your mother must know of this at least." Damien pouted as Von Leon led him to the indoor garden where his mother was picking vegetables with the other maids and were chatting happily what seems to be gossip. "And why are you helping to pick up vegetables, Mrs demon?" Von Leon asked with an eyebrow raised. The maids jumped in shock while they stuttered something.

"Its alright dear, it's a habit. Also, 'Mrs Demon' is far too polite just call me Dayla. Besides I don't want to sit around doing nothing. Please don't blame the maids." Dayla said with a smile. Von Leon chuckled "I wasn't planning on pinning this on anyone, you were enjoying yourself. But I'm not here for that, Damien has something to ask of you." Dayla gave a puzzled expression as her son stepped forward sheepishly.

"Umm mom? Can Mr Leon teach me how to fight?" He mumbled softly. Von Leon was expecting many things, but not the fact that Damien's mother smiled knowingly before giving a sigh. "I knew this would happen someday, both of you inherited your father's love of fighting after all. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself okay? And also keep that brother of yours in line." Dayla said while winking and giving a fond pet on Damien's head before going back to gossiping.

Damien stared in surprise but started smiling and thanking his mother once he realized that she had given permission before dashing back to Von Leon "Alright lets get started! What do we do first?" Von Leon smirked as he led Damien into and empty field "First things first. We need to raise your stamina. If you don't have the strength to lift a sword you can't fight with it. Run ten laps before giving me fifty push ups. This is very basic and will increase over time understand?" Damien nodded before starting his laps, Von Leon went back to the library to pick up his ancient texts regarding his beast form and went back. He smiled as he watched Damien run around before dropping to do push ups, going past the fifty mark easy.

Von Leon was going to have fun training him, the lion could sense potential in this kid.

XXX

EunWol breathed in and out as he shut his eyes, he could sense Lang standing behind him, though her face remains unchanged, he could tell that fox child was actually very worried about him. EunWol ducked as the spirit of the land threw a direct punch at him before leaping back to prevent him self from being sliced into pieces by the blade spirit.

The fire spirit attempted to burn him as the wind spirit increased the size of its flames. EunWol ducked, dodged and jumped up. The spirits snarled.

"_Why are you not fighting back?"_

"I'm waiting and getting the feel of fighting with my eyes closed. Please be patient." EunWol said politely before dashing straight to the spirit of the land, the pirate grabbed its fist and tossed him over to the wind spirit which easily levitates the land spirit down.

"_This is not enough."_ The land spirit said gruffly.

"_Do you truly have the power?"_

"_Do you truly have the determination?"_

"_Do you truly have the resolve?"_

"I know that I have. If not, I'll continue to train with you until you deem me worthy!" EunWol stated as he charged forward once more with his knuckle.

"_Then prove it! Prove that you have what it takes to host our power and wield our might!"_

XXX

Luminous growled at his dark counterpart. Eclipse was smirking as he lazily twirled his shining rod. "This is boring Luminous, how long will you keep me waiting and realize it already? You've only viewed the world in black and white, the future you was more interesting. That Luminous saw the grey side and gained something. You, on the other hand will gain nothing and will _die _if you don't pick up fast." Eclipse chuckled darkly as he summoned his arrow headed chains.

Luminous panted as he hasn't recovered from the previous beat down before leaping up and canceling the technique with spectral light. Some of the chains shattered while others continued to follow him persistently. He couldn't teleport as all Eclipse would do was predict where the teleport would end or cover the whole area in chains. Luminous grunted in pain as three chains slashed him, sending him crashing against a tree.

"_What does he want me to realize?!_" Luminous thought angrily, they had been at this for three days now, all Eclipse had said before dumping him on the ground harshly was that Eclipse would not stop trying to kill him until he realizes 'something'. The only clue that he managed to get from Eclipse on the second day was the word 'Equilibrium' from what the serenity mage knows, it means balance between two elements. But he only had one element, light…..…right?

Eclipse gave a predatory smirk as he instantly appeared in front of the pondering mage. The dark mage gripped Luminous's throat and lifted the struggling serenity mage upwards "_Now_ you're beginning to get it." Luminous glared at Eclipse with enraged eyes, Eclipse scoffed in amusement as he tossed Luminous aside, gasping for air. "Took you long enough, all the evidence says once thing but you decide to be a stubborn ass and go one big circle around it. That's why I said you're pathetic!"

"…So you're….really me?" Luminous gasped out. "The dark side of you, one who wants control, who wants to destroy! You were merely something that held me back." Eclipse elaborated further with big toothy grin. "Then why are you doing all of this? I would be less a 'hindrance' to you if I were dead."

Instantly Eclipse's smile vanished as he gripped Luminous's hair with one hand, his face blank. "….You know something? Up till the very end in the future, I never really understood you. You treated me like I was the worst thing in the universe at times while some times you sought me out like a 'friend'." Luminous's eyes were widened in shock, had he really done that? Approached this…_thing _like it was an ally?

"Shocked too huh? Do you know why I'm over here living and breathing? Its because when you were about to die, you prolonged my life-force so that I could live, at first I thought it was to make me suffer longer, but you _knew,_ you somehow knew that kid was coming to help. Till now I have no idea why you did that." Eclipse gripped Luminous's hair tighter "I accept mercy from _nobody_. But even if I beat you here, it wouldn't give me an answer. Plus, I need a medium or I won't last any longer."

Luminous finally realized why "So I'm supposed to be your medium, to _host _that black thing you call dark magic?" The light mage spat in anger, Eclipse scoffed and dropped the serenity mage down. "Now what do you think you little prick? I _hate _mercy, I'll repay my 'debt' to you now." Eclipse clenched his palm tightly and opened it, floating there innocently was a bright transparent orb. Luminous's hand reached out like he was in a trance and brushed it, shattering it instantly. The serenity mage then crashed to the ground, his hands clutching his head tightly as a large amount of information came rushing in.

Luminous saw it, he saw how life was so peaceful with a young girl named Lania. Luminous felt warm at the memory, then all of a sudden it went downhill when Eclipse first emerged, he sensed anger and rage towards his dark counterpart for harming Lania. Luminous chose to stick to the light, he then saw the ghost of his friend Vieren trying to help him with his problem. Only after he had finished learning and made Vieren move into Lania's home did he eventually find out that Lania was Lucia. After solving the obstacles in his way, he planned to go after the black mage again, but before he left, Vieren left some parting words.

"_Luminous, you must always remember that light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. Teacher had said that if a light mage obtained Equilibrium, it would be the pinnacle of both light and dark magic. You must speak to him Luminous, speak to him as if he were a close friend."_

At first those words disgusted him, but after some time spent with the other heroes and Freud's successor, he got to know Eclipse and turns out that his desire for destruction was something that he normally possessed because of the dark magic's huge influence of trying to create chaos. The dark mage could be (somewhat) gentle if he wanted to, after seeing that, he finally knew why he extended Eclipse's life force. The future Luminous knew that eventually, he would die but Eclipse could be a big help, that was what he felt especially when he could sense Evan on his way. So pinning all his hopes on that hunch, he had given away his remaining life force to his darker self because letting both of them die there wasn't a smart choice.

Eclipse sat waiting patiently, if any of the heroes saw him now, they would be shocked and had already fainted. Eclipse had a rather gentle expression on his face as he waited, when Luminous finally stopped struggling, the dark mage knew that the memory transfer was done. Eclipse smirked to himself as he felt something beckon to him, what was once sealed had finally been released. He soon slipped back through the open pathway into Luminous's body, feeling the warm heat of light energy that he once loathed, but now enjoyed.

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**A bit OOC? Haha sorry guys but it really is hard for me to write Luminous's first part of the training, its really...hmm how do i put this? Actually i can't lol.**

**Well this is the first chapter about the training, the others would be coming next~**

**Please Review~**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey there~ Omfg, canon maple timeline! How do you discern it! Sometimes the heroes appear a hundred years ago and now is three hundred years ago and then there's Cygnus O.O Trying to make sense of it T.T Its somewhat working well...**

**PCheshire- Haha sure you can but as i said pairing still in consideration~ Haha well wasn't his training period last chapter~ I'm glad that i didn't screw up that much with Lumi so that's one good thing XD i get that Damien is cute really *Serious face* lol for some reason i can't imagine EunWol with short hair haha~**

**Fluffy Sakura-chan- Well EunWol was a forgotten hero so he wasn't counted though i find that a bit harsh so Luminous _was_ the last hero, sort of. Lumi is interesting and with Eclipse then its even more fun XD Haha the Black Mage from the future is currently on stand-by but he'll show up (Or will he? Hehehehe.)**

**Anyways, enjoy this chapter! (P.S, if you want to PM me questions about this stories or anything else, please feel free to do so! I won't attack you~ Maybe the Eclipse jar will but not me lol.)**

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Spirit Phantom stared with interest as his gaze landed on his younger self. "So, how's the past? Is Aria doing well?" he asked with a smirk. His younger self gave back the same arrogant self "Quite, she's still filled with paperwork though. I should go check on her." Spirit Phantom stared in relief "So Evan really has done it huh? He really changed things for the better, Aria and Freud are both still alive…."

Phantom stared with confusion "What do you mean?" Spirit Phantom shook his head "In my time- No, I shouldn't tell you this yet. We need to begin learning the Hyper skills now. Evan's spell only gave me a temporary corporeal body. But the price is quite high for this, therefore he can't cast this spell anymore in his lifetime and even still my time is extremely limited." But Phantom still wanted to know, he was curious of what would have happened if Evan had not interfered.

"Curious yes? This wasn't part of the plan but I'm sure all of us plan to do the same, if you succeed in this training, I'll give you my memories. You'll be able to see what has happened in the distant future." Spirit Phantom said with a shrug. Phantom became more motivated now as he whipped out his cane. "Sounds more beneficial. Alright lets begin." Phantom began by using his mille aiguilles and pushed Spirit Phantom back. Spirit Phantom dodged all of it and countered with the same tactic.

Spirit Phantom smirked as he jumped, twisted around and launched Penombre, Phantom grunted before unleashing tempest. The swirling cards protected the thief from being critically damaged. "Ah right, I had nice mobility, reflexes and speed back then. Granted, but my attacks are stronger." Spirit Phantom chuckled before landing and casted his own tempest, easily cancelling out Phantom's swirling cards. Spirit Phantom smirked before jumping back as he took out a rose imprinted carte, Phantom stared at the card with confusion, had he had that carte? "Pay attention and try not to die, this is one of the things that you're trying learn. Remember this, the finale is always mine."

Spirit Phantom threw the rose imprinted carte upwards, Phantom stared with confusion as the carte disappeared before a few hundred more formed and rained down relentlessly. Phantom only realized it at the last second before he casted Magic guard, feeling his mana drain at a fast pace before it ended with him only have one serious injury. "What…..was that?" He panted as he clutched his abdomen which was currently bleeding. "Rose Carte Finale. It was my final trump card that I learnt when I was forced into a tight spot. You'll know why if you pass my training. Patch up, we don't have time to waste." Spirit Phantom elaborated.

Phantom didn't need to be told twice as he started chanting healing spells.

XXX

Freud dodged to the left and right as Mir used spells on him that he has already learnt, but the scholar knew better, this was to slowly improve the damage he has on the skills he currently knew. In other words, Evan was trying to polish up his current skills so that he could as least counter when they both use the same spell.

Freud was shocked when they both used the same fireball that the one Evan had cast managed to pierce through, it shows that attack was enhanced and hence, was stronger. "Alright then, I think we enhanced your current skills already. Time to move on to the newer ones." Evan said as he made Mir land on the ground. "I know that you are teaching me this but was it necessary for the improved skills? Couldn't we have moved onto newer ones first before polishing older ones?" Freud prodded, he wanted to know his successor's ability in more tactical matters.

Evan gave a wry smile "We could have done that, either way its part of the Hyper skills that I'm about to teach you, the sequence doesn't matter. But I'm not _that_ cruel to use it on you when you can't defend." Freud lifted his eyebrow at that, he knew his skills were not that weak or was it that the Hyper skill was far stronger? As he was pondering, he noticed that Evan had begun speaking in dragon tongue, Freud roughly translated what the brunette had said "Mighty dragon heed my call! I summon thee ancient one!"

Just as he had yelled that last sentence, a large magic circle appeared. Freud tensed, that amount of mana was no laughing matter. A black circular substance slowly formed into a curled up dragon that slowly ascended upwards before wings came out and with a roar, a large onyx dragon, bigger then Afrien had landed with a resounding thump. Freud tensed as the dragon eyed him, that was when he realized that Afrien was not moving in shock.

"I-It cannot be! Why is he here?" Freud glanced down at his partner before looking at Evan "Because I called him here, this is one your Hyper Skills but it will be your main one. You have to make him submit to you." the brunette elaborated as the ancient dragon gave a toothy smirk. "Well Well! I didn't think that there was an Onyx dragon who still remembered me! I wonder how long has it been?" Freud telepathically asked Afrien to explain. "Of course I remember him! I'm descended from him, the prime leader of the onyx dragons, he who could make the very transcendents tremble in fear, Astaroth!"

Freud had heard of that name, it was a very powerful name that all Onyx dragons has heard of. Freud immediately told Afrien to fly as a blackish purple flame had melted a large hole on the ground where they once stood. Freud maneuvered Afrien and made the dragon teleport behind Astaroth before casting a basic large lightning towards the dragon's back. Astaroth smirked as he stood still, taking the attack with no damage at all an immediately twisted to slam his tail and send Afrien towards the opposite wall, Afrien had managed to extend his wings and turned so that his feet crashed to the wall, taking the impact.

"Come on! I've seen it once but impress me once more! Show me the power of the bond that Onyx dragon and human share!" Astaroth roared as he spat out more hellish looking flames, but contained it so that the whole building would not crash down on him or his caster. Afrien sprinted and tackled the ancient dragon while continuously pushing until Astaroth's back faced the wall. Freud casted Blaze and Afrien smirked before complying.

A large explosion occurred, Freud and Afrien were not let unscathed, the attack range was large and attacking it so closely was risky. There was hearty laughter as Astaroth came back out, his claws slashing the debris away. "That's it, that's it! Come! Don't hold back!" the dragon roared ignoring the burn marks and blazing fire that covered him. Afrien looked to Freud for approval and got it soon enough as a dark fog shrouded Astaroth.

The dragon blasted the fog with his most intense hellish flames only to have the fog continue swirling around him. Freud swung his wand down and whispered "Dark Fog." Astaroth roared in pain as powerful blasts of lightning struck him from all direction, the ancient dragon soon collapsed as his spirit slowly disappeared, but not before giving Freud an orb that detailed the spell that could be used to summon specifically him or any past ancient Onyx dragons.

Afrien had landed completely weary as Freud slid down, Evan came to fawn over their injuries. Freud chuckled as he sat down "You were right, if I didn't enhance my spells or reflex by sparring with you, I would never have won this fight." Evan smiled as he treated both Afrien and Freud's wounds "Congratulations, you have acquired your main Hyper skill."

XXX

Aran swung Maha down as she twisted around for another combo before slashing her pole arm down, causing a bear paw to slash downwards. All this while Spirit Aran was smiling as she dodged and countered with her polearm. "What seems to be so amusing?" Aran asked, Spirit Aran chuckled before replying "I know I told you that I would give you what memory I have, but I find it ironic as I haven't found out about all of my past memories yet."

Aran stared before she remembered that Evan had mentioned this was because of a side effect when they were encased in ice. "How about this? After this training is over, we can exchange memories." Spirit Aran seemed happy about that idea as she swung harder, causing a huge crack to open up on the ground when Aran had barely dodged. "Get ready," Spirit Aran said serious "I'm going attack you with whatever I have."

Spirit Aran charged forward slashed continuously, Aran countered with the same techniques but found her arms going sore as each impact was a hard blow. Spirit Aran leaped and spun around as she touched the ground, her polearm on fire causing Aran to gain burnt marks as slashes appeared on her back.

But the attacks didn't stop there as a pack of spirit wolves materialized and surged forward, Aran gritted her teeth as she forced herself to roll out of the way, Spirit Aran instantly appeared behind her and sent her into the air, slashing horizontally, vertically and any angle possible. Aran spun around and casted Maha's blessing causing her three hundred sixty attack to force Spirit Aran back, injuring her stomach slightly. "I'm going to attack you until you can counter of you will never survive my hyper skill." Spirit Aran said slightly impressed that her younger self could catch up.

"That's the way I like it! No useless complicated magical stuff and just swing as hard as I can!" Aran grinned and surged forward, buffing herself and proceeded to do combo Fenrir, her attacks getting stronger and faster which each strike. "Now you're getting it, but its not enough." Spirit Aran said as their pole arms crashed together once more.

XXX

Mercedes healed herself as her Spirit self appeared once more "Alright, I've done what I wanted to. Let us continue." Spirit Mercedes said as her crossbow guns materialized into her hands and immediately began shooting her younger self. Mercedes was startled at the sudden continuation but leaped out of the way just in time. It was so like her for giving abrupt signals.

Mercedes casted Ignis roar and jumped directly above Spirit Mercedes and continuously spun around while launching arrows, peppering the area below her before she landed. Spirit Mercedes smiled inside her dome of water that absorbed all the arrows. "Come on you can do better then this. You can't protect Elluel if you can't even stop one dead elf from beating you." Spirit Mercedes said as the dome disappeared. Mercedes gritted her teeth in anger as she charged forward and summoned her elemental knights to surround Spirit Mercedes. Spirit Mercedes gave an amused smile as she proceeded to do the same.

Without any warning, Spirit Mercedes zipped past the elemental knights and used rising rush and rolling moonsault and was about to leap and fire but Mercedes countered by launching her arrows and littered the ground with it, deterring her Spirit Mercedes from doing so. "It appears that my skills didn't lower." Spirit Mercedes said with a serene smile. "Of course, I never let myself go soft." Mercedes stated as she dashed towards her future self once more.

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**I know that training chapters are boring so no worries, i'll move on a skip most of it! Haha~ Just wanted to show scenes of the training.**

**Please Review~**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey~**

**PCheshire- Well he had to sic Astaroth on Freud and Afrien because well you know~ But then again in that department, i agree with you about Phantom though only Lumi suffers whatever Phantom sics on him lol. And Aria would be driven mad with paperwork (Trust me, i've seen/read some things) maybe i'll put a special side story on it~ You'll never know~ Nah they'd get a heart attack instead lol~**

**Fluffy Sakura-chan- Haha...can't tell whether you find EunWol with short hair appalling or odd or funny. Well the keyword is 'almost' hehe this will tempt our lazy master thief! Actually i thought that Aran was more of a silent type, but when i see her feeding EunWol with...that ****monstrosity i really can't think that. Haha~ Well, still trying to get a grip on Lumi! He's a fun character to type out~ Haha nope, still not a sorcerer so no magic powers and no secrets~**

**EK12- Eclipse can be gentle, i stongly believe this but yes even i would feel shocked, though it sounded a bit sad, it fits :D Onto the next part, lets try! *Sneaks up to Luminous* Fang: Surprise! Luminous: What the- *Grabs Eclipse and stuffs him into a Eclipse mint container* Fang: Aha! It works! *Eclipse breaks out instantly and knocks Fang out cold* Eclipse: What on the different levels of hell were you thinking of doing? Luminous: Fang's out cold you're not going to get any answers. Eclipse: *Growling* Well what now? *A note is then mysteriously thrusted into Luminous's hands* Luminous: It says that this note will help us for this chapter, well one problem solved. Eclipse: Now to hide the body. Luminous: Fang's not dead. Eclipse: Tch. Well get on with it, i want to sleep.**

**On the note: Enjoy this chapter~**

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Training had progressed smoothly this month and a half for each of them as they managed to get a basic grip on their new skills and abilities. Evan had thought on what else they could improve before smiling to himself, he had the perfect plan, which Von Leon, Damien and Valfor could participate as well. Although some were shocked at Luminous for obtaining a dark attribute while some protested at him for using dark magic, Evan had smiled and said that it isn't as bad as it seemed and after giving the dark counterpart a chance(Which included cooking from Mercedes and Aran, inevitably choking the dark mage) they had finally accepted Eclipse (Phantom looked like he was having a field day because now he can prank one person and get two amusing, pissed off reactions). Then there was Damien's training as well as participation in future battles(Though Valfor had not fully agreed to that judging by his look), nothing much has changed and with EunWol's return earlier that day, the brunette could finally take things up a notch.

"Umm guys, could you proceed to the large empty room underground? We're going to begin wrapping things up." Evan had said meekly one morning during breakfast. The heroes and ex-commanders were puzzled but did so anyway and were surprised to find their spirit selves already there(Including Luminous and Valfor) and were chatting.

"We're still going to train with them? I thought we already passed their training?" Mercedes said confused. The heroes and Valfor who trained with the future version of themselves had already succeeded in gaining their hyper skills although a bit rough around the edges and also obtained their future memories. Evan gave a smile as he walked towards the deceased heroes. "Yes but we're going to work on something which is far more important. With myself included, you are supposed to defeat the spirits and win. You may have obtained the skills required but you are currently lacking something. You won't win unless you know what it is, we realized this far too late." Evan said, the rest of the spirits had a flicker of regret in their eyes as they got into their fighting stance. "Begin." Evan said in monotone.

The group immediately dispersed, they had gotten used to surprise and abrupt attacks. Spirit Phantom attacked first as he targeted Luminous, the mage immediately casted his light magic which Spirit Phantom avoided easily and used Mille aiguilles, Luminous grunted as he began using his dark magic, Eclipse smirked as he threw chains at the dead thief. Spirit Luminous intercepted and wrapped a chain around Eclipse before flinging the man towards Phantom who was countering Spirit Mercedes.

Eclipse crashed into the unsuspecting thief and as predicted they began arguing. "Hey watch it! You're not lightweight you know!" Phantom yelled as he stood up, rubbing his side "Well excuse me since a certain fancy ass was standing there like an idiot! I thought you were agile!" Eclipse yelled incredibly pissed. "Agile but not infallible! How could _you _get sent flying by your own chains anyway?!" Evan casted flame wheel and watched as the two barely dodged the attack.

Phantom didn't manage to say something as Spirit Valfor came and tackled him aside, Freud glanced at the two as he maneuvered Afrien to dodge Spirit Aran's combo and cast blaze, the scholar knew that if Spirit Aran was still attacking then it would take a split second to shift into defense mode, the dead polearm user wouldn't be able to defend in time. But he was proven wrong as Evan came and pushed Spirit Aran away before countering with the same technique.

Spirit Aran took the chance when Freud was dazed for a second to strike, managing to slash Afrien's chest making the dragon roar in pain. EunWol immediately stopped attacking Spirit Mercedes and went to block any further attacks from Spirit Aran. The pirate called upon the land spirit as he charged with his knuckle out, the land spirit attacked Spirit Aran with its fists, only to be intercepted by a bear claw and getting cut in half by a pole arm. EunWol twisted to the right as another vertical strike was aimed at him, the pirate immediately slammed his leg down on the handle of the pole arm and made it sink into the ground as he attempted to slam his fist at Spirit Aran's stomach.

That didn't get very far as a black chain wrapped around the dead pole arm user's waist and threw her into the air, Spirit Aran was immediately replaced with Spirit Luminous who ditched his fight with Eclipse and dashed towards EunWol while using blinding pillar, knocking EunWol back. Spirit Luminous grabbed the pole arm and hefted it before tossing it towards Spirit Aran who caught it as she touched down and fought with Eclipse.

Von Leon and Valfor teamed up against Spirit Mercedes and managed to prevent her from teaming with Evan against Phantom. Von Leon turned into his huge beast form and rapidly slashed at her with his long claws while Valfor deflected any arrows that could have pierced the lion's weak spot. Damien went over to help Phantom as the young demon twisted his sword to slam on Mir's head, causing the dragon to be dazed, Phantom immediately struck with Mille Aiguilles, pushing the dragon back.

They continued this battle for a long time, but the heroes and ex-commanders were not getting anywhere as each time they had a chance to deal a critical blow, another of the dead spirits would come swooping in from god knows where to prevent that. They were slowly running out of stamina, but because the spirits were already dead, they were not constraint to stamina. Evan really couldn't help but feel a tad bit disappointed, it was really simple and they hadn't realized this yet? Plus, Phantom and Luminous quarreled and fought against each other more then their enemies.

Freud had realized it long ago, he was sure that the ex-commanders and EunWol knew it too. The scholar could not help but be impressed that his successor touched on this subject, indeed, if they could not succeed in this trial, they would not get anywhere as it would become one of their most fatal weakness. But he kept quiet, thinking that the others were sensible enough to think this matter through, he even intercepted during the times when the others were in a pinch to give clues as to what this battle was about, the scholar was horribly mistaken at the thought that they would realize. Valfor and Mercedes couldn't even attack together once to save their lives as they seem to disagree on a lot of things and Aran seemed bent on attacking alone, don't even mention Phantom and Luminous.

So in the end he yelled in a cold voice "_Enough._" the battle had immediately stopped as all eyes were on him. Freud sighed as he dismounted Afrien before throwing his wand down, shocking his allies "We have lost this battle." he said flatly to his team. Though the ex-commanders and EunWol nodded and accepted it as they knew why, the other heroes could not help but feel puzzled. "But why Freud?" Mercedes asked as she lowered her crossbow guns.

"Think about it. Truly ponder about why we have lost, Evan I assume we can initiate this test at another time?" Freud asked his successor, Evan nodded "Yes you can, but the limit is seven days." Freud then turned to Phantom, Luminous, Aran and Mercedes "Your limit to find out in five days. You can do what you want as long as you come to your answer." Freud, Afrien, Von Leon, Valfor, Damien and EunWol then left the room, followed by the spirits and Evan.

The rest stood there not comprehending what had happened. What were they lacking?

XXX

After the failed test Evan had decided that he should get some rest. So after Mir decided to chat with Afrien a bit longer he washed up and climbed onto bed hoping to get some sleep. The brunette never noticed very fade ash colored mist entering his mind, causing him to stir in discomfort. Evan was hoping he could get a dreamless sleep, but that was erased as he stood in a black background with no one there. Evan turned and gasped.

He saw the dead bodies of the heroes there, exactly in the position that they died in.

"No…" Evan said as he stepped back, a large shadow loomed above the dead heroes and the bodies began staggering up. The young mage glanced at the figure above which caused his eyes to widen, staring at the merciless cold ones of the black mage. "Why….?" Aran dragged as she stood up.

"Why weren't you stronger?"

"Why didn't you succeed in your role?" Evan shook his head "I-I tried guys! I really did!" Disappointed gazes were soon aimed at him. "You were weak and pathetic, you couldn't even walk on your destined path…." Luminous said with dead eyes. The black mage chuckled "Evan you are a failure, destined to be a burden to your _friends_." "No…..!" The black mage cackled as he wrapped spiked chains around the heroes necks and tugged forcefully, severing their heads cleanly off, making the blood spill all over Evan "See? Couldn't do a thing!"

There were whispering voices that chanted his failure in protecting his friends they were laughing at his misery, his pain. "No…! That's not true!" Evan turned to see Mir, the dragon had his back turned against him. "Mir you're with me right?" Mir turned his upset gaze towards Evan "Who are you? My master isn't so weak."

Evan opened his eyes and jumped in shock, his body covered with sweat as he panted and clenched a hand over his heart. That was nothing more then a bad dream….right?

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**On the note: Ohh~ I'll be a bit evil next chapter hehe *wink wink*~**

**Freud: What plot are you planning Fang?**

**On the note(Again): Fang: Haha my dear scholar, anticipate it next chapter. Now I'm not there so you end this.**

**Phantom: How does Fang know what you're saying anyway?**

**Freud: No clue, i'll just do what the note says.**

**Please Review~**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey there guys! There is an important fact that i would like to clear up. Earlier on i said that the Black mage's plan was to be reborn as a transcendent of life but that goal is _slightly _different from his canon maple goal but in this fic this is his goal, so sorry if you thought that i don't have an understanding of Zero's ending but i'll just say now that my fic and canon maple is slight AU so i hope this clears things up. ^.^**

**EK12- An interview? That sounds interesting~ I would put it here then! B-But! How did you know its authoress? Lol, if you never noticed i never placed whether i'm a he/she so congratz! Give me a second, i'll drag Luminous out. *Drags Sunfire and Eclipse apart* Eclipse :What? Want another hit? Fang: One was enough thank you! Anyway, our dear reviewer has some questions for you! Oh and by the way, he wants you to be referred as Sun and Clips.  
Clips: What the- Sun: Alright get this over with.  
Q1- What do you like about each other? You MUST say something.  
Clips: Are you shiting me? There is nothing AT all that i like about this sweet loving asshole. Fang:...That is so not true and you know it. Sun: Give up, we won't be free if we don't say something. And who said you could say about my habit? *Dark aura* Clips: Fine! I...like this guy's eyes okay! Its blue like the sky that i can never reach, never granted to people like me, beautiful and free. *Grumbling* Are you happy now? Fang: That...was unexpected. Sun: I-Indeed... *Clears throat* W-Well as for me, it would be his company. He maybe a very horrible person, but he says deep things some time and, actually provides me someone i can talk to... *Both of them slightly blushing* Fang: O.O That was very unexpected. Haha EK12 i'll tell you the next two questions at the next chapter alright? *Wink* otherwise it would take awhile haha...**

**PCheshire- Well, i can't say whether there is a huge twist or not but you'll find out soon hehe... Its a field day for Phantom now he can annoy to versions of Lumi! He's probably very happy~ Yeah that would be pretty funny, man you're giving me ideas for hilarious things. I might think about it hehe~ *Plotting smile***

**MapleAnimal- Yup it sounds very worrying isn't it? but fret not! (I hope...I can't spill things about later chapters after all~) Haha i'm glad you like this story, i feel slightly flattered. *Blushes a bit* Haha your friends might have sore shoulder, might want to massage that for them a bit~ *Hands ****handkerchief and cookie* Well don't cry...i know its bit sad but yeah...haha...**

**A-Anyways! Lets continue on~**

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For the past three days Freud had observed some changes, the other heroes were really considering what they lacked during their fight and were starting to get it. But what Freud was worried about was his successor, Evan had been coming in pale white for awhile now, Mir looked incredibly worried but Evan just waved the dragon off and told him he was fine. The scholar could see that once determined flame in his successor's eyes dimmed into something small and meek. So Freud decided to drop by Evan's room.

Freud was shocked when he found Evan on his bed rolling around with a very pained expression, the brunette was gripping his left hand tight enough to draw blood. Evan was muttering "No….Don't come near…" Freud immediately dashed towards his successor's side and shook the boy up, a nightmare is something that the child would not escape from until he awakens. "Evan! Wake up!"

XxX

Evan once again came back to that dark place, he didn't want it anymore! There was so many horrible things that were said there and it wasn't limited to the dead heroes anymore. Everyone who died by the black mage's hands in the future were clawing at him, calling him a failure one who could not even keep his promise to protect his friends, he didn't want to hear it anymore! The deaths of his friends made him suffer as well and with the black mage's copy over there laughing at him it wasn't making things any better.

So Evan was glad and relieved when someone had shook him up and called his name in concern. His vision soon brightened and Freud's worried face came into view. "Oh thank Rhinne you finally snapped out of it! What seems to be the matter?" Evan didn't care anymore as he embraced Freud and babbled about his problems and what had been haunting him for the past three days. While Phantom was his mentor and somewhat of a father, Freud had been more of a caring older brother or uncle to the brunette once he got to know the scholar.

"Calm down. Shh, its fine." Evan sobbed and wrapped his hands around Freud's waist tighter. "Freud…..it was horrible….they kept on whispering, telling me that I've failed, they kept on screaming for me to save them but I couldn't!" Freud rubbed Evan's back in a comforting manner just as he saw Phantom did not too long ago and felt the boy relax before falling asleep. Freud sighed in relief before he found himself stuck. The scholar twisted his head slightly to meet with Spirit Phantom whom he knew was there not too long after he had entered.

"A little help would be nice?" Spirit Phantom chuckled as he and Freud brought Evan into the scholar's room as Evan's bed was filled with sweat and lay the boy down to rest there. The dead master thief sat on the edge of the bed before cupping Evan's right cheek and rubbing it in a soothing manner but his eyes carried so many things he couldn't convey. "You knew that something was wrong didn't you?" Freud asked.

"Not long after you did. This boy always tried to follow your footsteps no matter how large they seem, he was willing to sacrifice for it because he didn't want to have what he had then disappear." Freud stared at Spirit Phantom who really seemed much different then the one he knew. "You seem different then your younger self."

"What the loss of your loved ones and friends can do to you. Plus I sought revenge and even though I knew that all that would come of it was pain and sadness, I chose to do so. The Phantom you know is someone who was _close_ to losing something important to him if not for Evan." Freud stared at the thief for awhile longer before speaking up.

"Phantom, you and the other spirits have been hiding something important, I think I have the right to know what it is." Spirit Phantom held himself back from flinching but could not keep the split second look of anxiety pass through his eyes. Spirit Phantom sighed as he turned to face Freud.

"Freud, Evan has never told you the price for bringing us back here to help you and the younger versions of us has he?" Freud shook his head "Well then let me tell you that the price was not cheap. Including having the goddess retrieve our memory as well as calling our spirits from a specific alternate future while giving a temporary corporeal body to us came with a heavy price." Freud didn't like the sound of that "Are you going to lead me around or are you going to say what exactly has he given in exchange?" Spirit Phantom gave a deep, regret filled chuckle.

"Time. Freud he's giving up his time in exchange." Freud's usually stone face expression became one filled with worry and shock. "What? But that means that he's deliberately shortening his own lifespan! And you kept this from us?!" Spirit Phantom stood and grabbed Freud's robes "Do you think that if I could have stopped him I wouldn't?! The fact is Freud that the price was paid before he brought us here! It was too late to do anything! Its because he felt it was his duty to do so! If we can't reverse the transaction the least we could do is honor it!"

The dead thief then released the gripped robes and watched as Freud's bangs shadowed his eyes "How long more does he have Phantom?" Spirit Phantom tilted his raven persona to prevent his amethyst eyes from being seen. "Not even a year." Freud was startled at the short amount of time the boy had left. "What about Mir? Does he know about this?" Spirit Phantom shook his head. "No. Evan was determined to pay the price alone. He didn't want to forfeit his partner's life despite knowing a dragon's years were long."

"But why less then a year? Isn't he going to be with us when we defeat the Black Mage?" The dead thief chuckled "That's the thing Freud. He has absolute faith in us despite the fact that we've already failed, he completely believes that you and the younger versions of us has what it takes to accomplish what you've set out for, with or without him."

XxX

Damien stared at the older figure, where was he and why was he here? He was remembering brushing up his sword skills with mister Leon but then it just went pure white. "Umm who are you mister?" The figure scoffed "Right I was pretty polite back then." Back then? "Are you like another me?" The figure nodded in amusement and glanced at the sword strapped to the other's back. "Began your training already? That's good. Just promise me that when you meet the Black Mage give him a good smack or two on his hooded head."

Damien stared in confusion but nodded nonetheless, despite the request sounding odd he knew that the figure had a good reason for it. "But why?" The figure stared at him sadly "You know if Von Leon never came to pick you and mother up she would have died? I survived because I struggled and struggled as I grew up, injured but strong. One day the Black Mage indirectly came to me with the request that I join him. I saw no reason to so I declined. But,"

"He had used mother as an excuse. He said that if I joined him and succeeded in helping him be reborn as the transcendent of life, he would use his powers to breathe life into mother's corpse. Being young and all I believed him but when he did achieve his goal he merely killed all the commanders since he had no further use for them. I can't do anything right now but you can, just bonk him on the head a few times, I'll be satisfied."

Damien smiled as he agreed more eagerly this time. Why not? The black mage sounded like a meanie and Damien didn't like mean people. "Just….….one thing. Trim your hair because it will get in your way during battle." The figure said while coughing, the truth is, many people mistook him for a maiden when battling because of that curly and silky hair. Damien once again stared in confusion but woke up soon enough to see Von Leon's worried face. "Oh that's good I thought I pushed you too hard. You alright Damien?" Damien nodded.

"Umm Mister Leon could you help me trim my hair please?" Von Leon stared with utter confusion, this kid may have potential but he often asked for weird things during training like wanting a similar furred leather armor like him and a eye patch, what on maple for?

XxX

EunWol was starting to have an odd dream, the place was filled with bright light and the only thing there was his form when he and his spirits fused together. It was staring at him without saying a word. "And what are you doing here? I thought Evan had to know us in order for you to be brought here?"

The spirit chuckled. "It seems that I can't fool myself. Alright I'll make it brief. What I am right now is a mere fraction myself, Rhinne couldn't find me since I no longer exist." EunWol raised an eyebrow at that "So why are you here?"

"I called in a request to Alpha and Beta since they can actually see me. I'm dead but I managed to slip a fraction of myself through the dream manipulator's powers as my existence was crushed here." The spirit said with a shrug. "Dream manipulator? Who's he? An ally or foe?" The spirit faced him for a second, considering what he had to say.

"Right, you've never met _her _not he. Dream manipulator is one of the Black Mage's commanders but she rarely appears, it seems your friend has angered the Black Mage greatly." EunWol stared in confusion before understanding dawned in his eyes "You mean Evan? What has happened to him?"

"The dream manipulator is trying to break him and control him like a puppet to her amusement. I actually wanted to use this time to talk to you more about what has occurred in the future, but I think its more beneficial if I could help what is happening now." The spirit snapped his claws and the background changed, EunWol could see his hands becoming very translucent.

The spirit tugged him gently with its claws and pointed to the scene in front of him. EunWol's eyes widened as he saw Evan being confronted with people who looked like zombies and were attacking the poor boy but Evan was not fighting back, eyes filled with fear and despair. EunWol wanted to charge in and knock the zombies away until the spirit grabbed him with its claws and pulled him back. "Don't. You going there would have an opposite effect on him. If you attack the corpses now, it will make it seem to him that you are trying to kill his friends."

"Friends?" EunWol said with confusion, the spirit shook his head sadly. "None of this is real. The people over there would die then say those horrible things, but your friend there thinks it's a possibility that they could blame him for their deaths. Hence all those words are slowly getting to him and is slowly breaking him." EunWol seem horrified at that "So what am I supposed to do?" He whispered.

"I informed you of this too late. Next time you see him prepare to face him in battle." EunWol didn't like that idea but the spirit just patted his shoulder gently "No you have to do it, you have to snap him out of it, only then would the dream manipulator appear, giving you a chance to get rid of her and stop this nightmare. Now awaken, go!"

EunWol's eyes snapped open as an explosion occurred and the room where Freud was came on fire.

XXX

When Evan fell asleep while embracing Freud, he had hoped that all those mean things that were in the nightmare would stop. But it didn't, in fact it came on him worser and harsher then before. He couldn't hold on any longer, those words were the cold hard truth. "No…stop…..! I don't want to hear it any more…..!" Evan said while clamping his ears. "_You want it to stop?_" Evan's dead looking eyes turned to face a young elf girl who was dressed like a doll.

"Yes…." The girl smiled, if Evan was more attentive he could have felt the evil intentions in that smile but he didn't and approached the girl as she held her hands out and came to hug him. "_There is a way. They can't say mean things to you if they were gone._" "Gone…?"

"_Yes. Make them disappear and the words they say will go too._" Evan seemed to frown at that, but something kept blocking him from thinking any further, there was a mist clouding his mind, a voice told him gently that following what the girl in front of him said was a good choice. The girl gave a more convincing smile as she let go of him and the black scenery disappeared, immediately replaced by a dimly lit room with Freud scribbling on a piece of paper.

Freud turned to Evan and felt something was wrong with the brunette, he was carefully watching his successor and didn't see him struggle or roll around so the scholar thought nothing was wrong. Although right now his instinct's were shouting at him and told him to be prepared, inwardly Freud more or less guessed what was wrong but the scholar brushed it aside hoping that his fears was wrong.

Evan's eyes held nothing in them, the young mage was whispering something under his breath before he waved his wand and Freud's eyes widened before he jumped back. As expected a large explosion happened, causing him to be slightly covered in minor burns as he was pushed back, the scholar gripped the floor to prevent him from being sent to a wall as he slid into the hallway, bringing out his wand with the other hand.

Freud's eyes registered the others coming for him. They looked shocked at the one who attacked Freud. EunWol came to him and immediately helped him up. "Guys Evan is being controlled! We need to snap him out of it!"

Freud's worst fear was confirmed.

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***Backs to the wall* Fang: Haha...Hi guys...**

**Other heroes and Ex-commanders: _Authoress..._**

**Fang: E-Eep! W-Wait! T-There is a perfectly reasonable- Oh shit wait! Those Hyper skills aren't supposed to be used on me! Woah wait Freud! Don't call Astaroth! Mercedes put those crossbow guns down! Luminous and Eclipse don't go Equilibrium on me! Lets settle this peacefully a-alright?**

***Fang gets throttled anyway***

**Phantom: Well while we're beating up Fang and trying to set things, straight i might as well end this.**

**Please Review~ (Fang: H-Help! I'm damned sure that my hand isn't supposed to look that wayyyyyy)**


	21. Chapter 20

***Appears completely beaten up* They let me live because they needed someone to write the story *Grumbling* Heartless assholes...**

**Pekiunai- Well she's still one of the Black Mage's commanders and she has to appear some where lol. But yes, things are speeding up soon~ Haha...wait i give a lot of plot twists? *Gasp***

**EK12- Well you guessed right~ And thanks for the revive Q.Q  
Q2- What do you like about Evan?  
Clips: We're still continuing this? Sun: Fang already stated that. I'll go first then, that child Evan has potential that much i give him that but most importantly, he could unintentionally do Freud's job. That child was always there to lighten the mood, so quick to please, always there to help us...*Turns away* Clips: Yeah, yeah the sappy stuff. My reason is simple, he makes a great outlet for frustration. That damn thief dodges to well but Evan screams in fear as he runs that was music to my ears. Fang: *mumbling* Sadist. Clips: What was that? Fang: Nothing, lets move on.  
Q3- What do you like about authoress?  
Sun: Like? There's plenty of dislike but like...? Clips: Just want to beat her up *Grumble* Fang: Sadist and a meanie!*Sob* i work with these people everyday *more mock sobbing* Sun:I guess it would be the way she carries out this story...? I'm not quite sure. Clips: Well if she lets me hit Phantom a few hundred of times there would be one good point... Fang: Not happening, still need Phantom intact. Well guess that's the end of this interview~**

**Fluffy Sakura-chan- Haha i wasn't aware that i was throwing plot twists left and right but as long as it work~ Haha i guess the plot twists interest you and are to your liking?**

**Onto this new chapter~**

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The Black Mage cackled as he saw what the dream manipulator has done. It was a perfect punishment befitting of someone who had dared to touch his plans. But no matter a backup has been made, currently all the remaining Black Mage commanders have been sent out to various places, Naultius harbor, Rien, Ereve, Elluel, Aurora and Leafre. But the tyrant's true goal was,

Ereve.

The holy beast Shinsoo resides there and by obtaining the jewel on its forehead would the Black Mage obtain enough energy to pierce that accursed barrier which Alicia and Rhinne had made to keep him out. Also with the separate attacks on the specific locations which the heroes have attached themselves to, it would conceal his true goal.

Yes it was perfect! The black mage thought as he stood up, he himself would go to pick up the jewel that is required, this time failure is no option.

XXX

None of them could take this battle seriously. They couldn't even land a hit on the boy much less even attempt to snap him out of whatever had controlled him. Evan casted spell after spell aiming for the most vulnerable ones who did not defend properly and let their guard down. "EunWol what happened to Evan?" Freud asked as he dodged a lightning bolt and ducked behind a cabinet.

"I'm not sure what has happened but from what I know the dream manipulator has cast her spell on Evan, causing him to have nightmares and slowly breaking his will. After that did the dream manipulator came to control Evan in his broken state. I don't know exactly how though." EunWol stated as he hid behind a pillar, currently what everyone was doing was to scatter around until they had a suitable plan.

Von Leon and Valfor perked up at the name dream manipulator. "Wait her? This is not good." Von Leon said as he shrugged off a fireball and sliced another aiming for Valfor. As the lion was countering Valfor explained "Unlike any of the commanders, she truly has no physical abilities nor magical abilities. But in exchange she has the power to manipulate someone's dreams, if I'm not mistaken Von Leon and I both experienced being controlled though temporary. However there are requirements to her ability and it is actually very limited-" Valfor didn't say any further as he took flight to avoid a light spell that was targeted at him.

There was a girl's laughter that echoed in the hallway, the dream manipulator soon materialized with mist behind Evan and gave a creepy smile "Now now Valfor you can't tell them what my abilities are that's just no fun." The commander went to hug the boy and petted him on the head gently, her fingers went through Evan's hair doing so repeatedly as if he was a doll while whispering things into his ear, cackling quietly when Evan leaned into her touch. "Dear Human remember your desire. They will stop speaking mean things if you kill them alright?" Evan nodded his head as the dream manipulator snuggled up to the boy once more.

Phantom gritted his teeth as he shouted "Evan don't listen to her she's just controlling you!" Evan didn't seem to hear him as the brunette charged forward and swapped to Aran's polearm before swinging it at the thief, Phantom twisted left to dodge and gripped his cane tightly but did not use it, he couldn't. "Valfor what are her abilities?" Mercedes asked as Von Leon, Damien left to go after the dream manipulator. "Like I said it was limited," Valfor yelled as he dodged a spell, Luminous went to intercept Evan so that Valfor could finish what he was saying.

"There are requirements to do so. First of all her abilities are only limited to one person, she cannot enter the mind of two at the same time. Second of all she must have physical contact in order to cast a spell which keeps a person under her control after she breaks their wills with her powers. Thirdly, in order to use her powers, her target must be asleep." Valfor said briefly before taking off to chase the commander. The rest stood there at a standstill, what should they do now? They couldn't harm Evan even if it was for his own good.

Luminous felt Eclipse trying to take over, the dark mage soon emerged and gave a big smirk as he teleported where Evan was and gave a good hit to the brunette's head with his shining rod before kneeing the boy's stomach and kicked it for good measure, sending Evan sliding on the floor. The others gaped and what Eclipse had done. "Hey stop hitting Master!" Mir yelled as he went over to check Evan. "Heh, you guys couldn't do it and we need to do something. Besides I had been itching to do that since we came here." Eclipse snickered.

Evan pushed Mir back with Mercedes's crossbow guns as the brunette stood up. "Master don't you recognize me? Its me Mir!" Mir raised both his claws up to show that the dragon was not planning anything. Evan frowned he was muttering something under his breath which caused Mir's eyes to widen, in the end Afrien swooped in to prevent the shocked dragon from being sliced in half. Mir slumped beside Freud while sobbing "Master…I never said that…." the dragon cried as his claws covered his eyes.

"_You said that you didn't need someone weak like me to be your 'Master'._" Freud frowned as EunWol explained while parrying all of the shot arrows. "Freud, Evan was being fed bullshit in his nightmare! He believes that all the friends he couldn't save was his fault! The dream manipulator used that to break him!" Eclipse scoffed "Just like the kid to be done in by something like that." the dark mage then wrapped black chains around Evan as Phantom tried to knock the boy out.

Evan merely ducked before shattering the chains with Aran's polearm and swung in a circle causing Phantom to retreat backwards. Something appeared beside the thief causing Phantom to start in shock as the future version of him appeared by his side frowning. "Where were you anyway?" Phantom asked.

"There is a reason we are not here, this is your problem to face off. The rest of us went to make countermeasures against something, however I will give you a hint on this problem." Spirit Phantom then bent down to Phantom's ear and whispered "In the memories I gave you, there was something that Evan always cast to calm me down and help me concentrate. Use it." Spirit Phantom smirked before disappearing. Phantom thought hard as a piece of memory came into mind.

"_Umm Mister Phantom could you please come out? Its been days and the maids as well as Gaston are worried about you." Evan said meekly as he knocked the door._

"_Leave me be." Phantom growled in his room making Evan flinch, it sounded like a beast. Evan knew that the thief wasn't happy about Orchid but it wasn't healthy if he wasn't eating. Evan told Mir to stay outside as he went in, closing the door gently._

"_I said to leave me be!" Evan wanted to run but used all his willpower to remain where he stood as glowing amethysts eyes glared at him in the pitch black room. "N-No! You haven't eaten in days Mister Phantom you'll be weak if you don't eat!" Evan took a step forward as Phantom went back while growling. "Your final warning, leave."_

_Evan didn't do so and slowly climbed onto Phantom's bed while gently wrapping the thief in a soft embrace causing Phantom to flinch at the sudden contact. "Please Mister Phantom, don't keep the pain in. You don't have to chase me away, I'll accept you so you can tell me what's wrong." Evan hummed something which calmed Phantom down, causing the thief to slowly become drowsy because of the lack of sleep._

"_I know you're angry, I know you don't want to see Orchid but you can't let that hate consume you again. Didn't you tell me that Aria told you to stop your revenge? Didn't she tell you to live like the free bird you were?" Evan said softly as he hugged the thief tighter. Phantom relaxed as he heard Evan's comforting words. "You…really do seem like….Freud everyday….thank you Evan…" Evan smiled as he hummed again and slowly placed Phantom's head on a pillow while sitting cross legged beside the thief._

Eclipse had bound Evan to his chains but the brunette still managed to struggle free from the chains and Aran's grip, Mercedes shot her arrows to prevent Evan from moving but the brunette swapped to Luminous's shining rod and spun in around with one hand, deflecting away the arrows. Freud stood beside Mir to protect the dragon as Afrien blew gusts of wind towards Evan.

Evan just whispered a spell to prevent the wind from hindering him as he swapped to Aran's pole arm to deflect Aran who was using the blunt side of Maha to attack while Eclipse's chains wrapped around the brunette's feet to prevent movement. Evan used his wand and swung it around causing the chains to loosen up enough for him to jump up and away from the three of them. EunWol came and used his bare hands in an attempt to take away Evan's wand, Evan twisted to the side and used Luminous's spell to push the pirate back.

It was then did the brunette realize that Phantom was not moving and swapped target while changing to Aran's polearm as he leaped towards the thief. Phantom gave a smile but didn't do anything as the pole arm sunk into his left shoulder making the thief grit his teeth in pain. "Phantom!" Freud yelled as he tried to help the thief who glared at him to stay away. The other's watched as Phantom used his right hand to hold Evan's head and push him towards the thief's chest. Phantom whispered the same spell that calmed him down near Evan's ear.

The others stared with interest, Freud especially since the spell actually held an effect. The scholar had not heard of such a spell before. Phantom smiled since he knew the truth, this spell was actually unintentionally created when Evan hummed a song, the lyrics of the song was what formed the spell's incantation. Evan's shoulders slumped as he relaxed into Phantom's hold, what had he been doing for the past half an hour? The brunette stared in horror as he glanced at Phantom's shoulder which had a large gash on it and looked down at his hands which were gripping a pole-arm dripping with the thief's blood.

"What did I…..?" Evan tried to step away but all Phantom did was grip the boy harder as the thief's hand caressed Evan's hair gently. "Shh its fine, you were being controlled. None of us blames you." Evan sobbed as his hands gripped Phantom's suit "B-But it was because I listened to those words! I should have known and yet…!"

"Evan you're still a boy, no matter how much you try to act tough and mature, deep down you're still a young child. You get swayed easily if you are continuously told something and even more so if you believe its true." Freud's eyes turned elsewhere at this, if only the thief knew how much time the boy really had left. Evan still couldn't help it as he sobbed into the suit while mumbling apologies to Phantom.

"I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!" Phantom just rubbed the boy's back while the heroes stared at the scene with gentle eyes. The thief turned to see the hallway where Von Leon, Valfor and Damien had disappeared to, he really didn't expect the spell he spoke to break Evan out of the commander's control that easily since he had only spoken the first verse, had they done something?

* * *

**There you happy now guys? *Turns to look at other heroes and Ex-commanders with the original script***

**Phantom: Much better.**

**Freud: I'm glad that all is well now.**

**Fang: No actually you guys threatened and blackmail me to-**

**Phantom: WELL then look at the time! We best end this~**

**Fang: Hey wait I-**

**Phantom: Please Review~**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hey there~ I am back to normal! *Tears of joy***

**PCheshire- Y-You wanted to hit me? Well, if i were in your shoes i would too...Well interesting emotion there love and hate, haha~ If you put the two together it would be a bit chaotic~ haha i don't know, i've never seen black mage without his hood...(I'm actually curious myself now, damn it.)**

**Pekiunai- Yup that's right~ Because our beloved master thief has impeccable memory! lol i'm quite curious myself, maybe i'll look through things and see all my sudden plot twists hehe~**

**EK12- Wow never heard of that quote before, then again, i don't hear much english songs anyway T.T Well i'll do half first and the next half of the interview with Evan next chapter alright?(But i'm a bit unclear on the first one though, i'll skip it first. Please clarify whether it means the ex-commanders too~) *Drags Evan out* Evan: H-Hello. D1: Dress up as Phantom. Evan: What?! You want me to dress up as- Fang: Yup, here~ *Shoves clothes at Evan* Evan: Where did you get this Fang? Fang: Se-cr-et now put it on~ *Wear clothes* Evan: Oh wow...its so comfortable! I always thought the baggy pants looked very uncomfortable looking but its actually quite soft! Fang: *Snaps some pictures* Hehe~  
Q2: What is your opinion on the authoress? Evan: W-Well, other then the fact that she made this story and made me feel sad almost every chapter, she's a nice person i guess...*mumbles something while blushing* Fang: Aww you sweet kid, can't hate anyone can you? *Hands cookie* Well that's the first part of the interview~**

**casperlim99-Haha~ I'm honestly trying to stuff in romance scenes, its a bit...challenging so to speak but i'll somehow manage! (Hopefully...T.T) I'm glad you think of it as something with lots of mysteries~ Better keep the suspense going right? *wink***

**Guest- Or so that's where the review went~ Got you there MapleAnimal hehe~ You're evil to wish that, but who am i to judge when i write what i did last chapter~ Spare your friends though haha~ That, would be a long re-read XD**

**Well, here's the chapter~**

* * *

While the heroes were battling with Evan, Von Leon, Damien and Valfor were chasing the still skipping dream manipulator. Von Leon jumped, twisted and landed in front of the commander to cut her off from trying to escape. Damien had her back route covered while Valfor glared at her in the air. "Prepare to be defeated, you're not leaving here, not after what you did to Evan." Von Leon growled as he unsheathed his sword.

The dream manipulator giggled "And are you going to fight me Von Leon? You do remember that I know all of your skills since I went through you memory once, same goes for Valfor." the two ex-commanders gritted their teeth, the commander in front of them definitely knew their attack patterns and could easily dodge if they were to attempt it. "Come on Mister Leon, Big brother! What were you training for!" Damien shouted as he gripped his sword and thrust it forward at the dream manipulator who twisted right at the sudden move but not in time as a small cut appeared on her cheek.

Damien smirked as he immediately turned his sword right and slashed, aiming for the dream manipulator's head, the commander ducked and released a sigh as she almost had her head sliced in two. Valfor stared at Von Leon "That is his own style, after I managed to teach him the basics on sword wielding, he had for some reason adopted this rough style, it mostly uses your instinct and ability to control your muscles to make abrupt movements." Von Leon explained as he attacked the dream manipulator's back.

Valfor decided to question later, he used his mace and slammed it down on the floor, unleashing his fury but the dream manipulator was smirking all this while as she skipped to the left and ducked as both Von Leon and Damien aimed for her head, causing both swords to clash against each other. Valfor immediately took flight and threw his scepter at the dream manipulator, something he would never do. As he predicted the mace pierced through the dream manipulator's body, causing her to dissipate back into mist.

'_No! At this rate she will escape just as Hilla did!_' Von Leon thought and began to change into his beast form, hearing the giggles that came from the mist. "No use Von Leon, your beast form cannot harm me." Von Leon gave a wide toothy grin as his transformation ended causing the others to be shocked. His current beast form was not huge or large, he still retained his original size and lion like form but his eyes were shaper, his body was stronger and faster, his mane was blood red and he still retained his clothing. Von Leon hefted his sword on his right shoulder as he concentrated on his left hand.

_Von Leon finally obtained a clue to make himself much more stronger! The lion had constantly researched on his last stage beast form which would enable him to be more agile and more calm of mind. Just then the door to the training room opened and Von Leon watched as Damien paused his training to see who had entered. Evan poked his head in and smiled at them "Umm is this a bad time?"_

"_No it isn't. What seems to be the problem?" Von Leon asked as he stretched himself and cracked his neck, the lion started feeling stiff. "I just wanted to hand this to you since I managed to successfully make one." Evan stretched his hand out an in it was a plastic transparent container that held a odd yellow orange flame in it._

"_What is that?" Von Leon asked "Its something that could help you when you want to take down a person who has a gas like body, this would burn the gas up. However there is a risk as overusing it would eventually cause the flame to consume your life force then mana, you have to use it as a side weapon as a result and you must fuse this with your body. Of course there are consequences, one of them is that you will _never_ be able to remove it." Von Leon stared at the object with utmost interest, with that, he could take down Hilla for good._

_Evan smiled but his face was incredibly serious "Just…..promise me that once Hilla and the Black Mage is gone, you'll give up your revenge and live peacefully okay? I'll give this to you in exchange, but like I said, you must _never_ overuse it." Von Leon gave another smile at the boy's kind personality as he took the container without hesitation._

In Von Leon's palm burst a large flame which unsettled the dream manipulator for some reason. Von Leon fused his sword with the flame and watched the large piece of metal came ablaze. Damien had finished explaining what the flame was for, which caused Valfor to fly behind the dream manipulator and extend his wings as large as possible before blowing the mist towards Von Leon. Damien used a basic wind spell he knew and did the same, causing the struggling mist to be forced into the center with no ways of escape as this particular hallway had no windows.

"No! Don't come near! Stay back!" The mist begged as Von Leon approached, his claws gripping tightly onto the handle of the sword while his feline like face contorted into something akin to disgust. "When worst comes to worst you beg? That is not honorable at all. Face your punishment for all the things you've done, that boy was probably screaming like you are right now yet you still laughed at the pain!" The dream manipulator screeched as the blazing sword rapidly sliced at the mist, causing it to be slowly burnt out like oxygen is to fire.

"My death here would not be in vain! You are too late! He has already begun his plans!" the three stared at the dissipating mist with confusion, what plans?

XxX

Phantom tried his best to not let any forms of pain be expressed through his face as Evan stared at him with worry. Freud was healing the large gash on the shoulder but not only did it itch like hell it was also very painful, to be honest Freud looked like he was impressed that Phantom was not screaming in pain like before when he was applied alcohol on his wounds. "It does hurt doesn't it mister Phantom? I'm-" Phantom held up his hand to cut off the brunette.

"No more apologies from you. Who do you think I am anyway? I'm the master thief Phantom and no tiny scratch that my apprentice in the future inflicted on me is going to do any harm. If you want to apologize go to Mir, that liz-I mean dragon was bummed out by what you said just now." Evan nodded and went to apologize to Mir for whatever horrible thing he had said, the dragon recovered quickly but not before smacking Evan on the head with its golden claw to get a point across. "I like master the way he is! Master isn't weak either!" The dragon huffed.

"Phantom were you about to say that Mir was a lizard?" Freud asked with an eyebrow raised as Afrien growled behind the scholar "O-Of course not! That was nothing but a slip of the tongue!" The other heroes would not admit that in their future memories they had thought of Mir the same way. "So you were thinking that it was true but dare not say it?" Phantom stuttered as Afrien poked his snout near the thief, its golden irises narrowing "I am watching you master thief." Afrien growled as Freud chuckled before ushering the dragon to move away so that the scholar could continue healing Phantom's injuries.

"Freud what kind of doctor are you to expose the patient to a traumatic experience with a dragon when healing?" Phantom pouted "Not a very good one since I'm a scholar not a doctor." Freud chuckled once more. Von Leon, Valfor and Damien had returned as they watched the scene. "Evan are you alright?" Von Leon asked as he approached the young brunette. "I'm fine but mister Phantom is-"

"Completely fine as well! No need to worry!" Phantom yelled from his spot. Valfor raised his eyebrow as everyone could tell the thief was most certainly not fine and was paler then before. "I never pegged you as a type that would be so caring." Luminous said as he watched Phantom's second attempt of not screaming in pain. "The things that I do for that kid. Don't regret it though." Phantom gave a pained smirk as Freud finally finished.

The group then heard cawing sounds as a crow appeared and perched onto Phantom's shoulder "Yes? What's wrong?" The crow stared at his master for awhile longer as it relayed the news before disappearing "What? Why now?" Phantom grunted as he staggered up. "Phantom what's wrong?" Freud asked as he helped the thief balance. "There has been a sighting of the Black Mage's army at various places. Namely Ereve, Leafre, Naulitus Harbor, Elluel and Rien!" The heroes stared while gaping.

"Why those areas?! Its like the black mage targeted them because of our relationship with them!" Mercedes yelled. "Or maybe there's an ulterior motive." EunWol said, as his finger was on his chin in thought. "Motive?" Aran asked confused. "Yes," EunWol elaborated "I don't know about the other places but I do know that Naulitus harbor has nothing of value for the black mage to target it."

"Leafre has information but I don't think that's what the Black Mage is after right now. Especially since the information is not about the transcendent." Freud stated. "But even if that's the case we can't let these areas get destroyed." Luminous said with a frown. "Then should we split up?" Aran asked Freud. The scholar thought hard about it, although splitting up here would be completely reasonable and the best option, something didn't feel right.

Although the black mage had a large army, the tyrant was not one who would waste it by targeting separate areas like that especially when he knows that once of them would go to that area to defend and commander or not, eventually the attack would be stopped. And there was what EunWol said, if that the tyrant was truly after something this could merely be diversion to direct them somewhere or at least make them split up which would weaken their power immensely. So what should he do now? Either one could be a trap and without any hints on which one is the black mage's true goal one tiny slip up could cause jeopardy to their mission and to civilians as well.

Spirit Phantom decided that it was a good time to show up as he appeared once more. "And you appear again." Phantom said flatly, the thief himself wasn't happy with the abrupt departures and appearance as it might be fun to him but no fun when he experiences it. "I thought you left?" The dead thief shrugged his shoulders "I was always here, I never left. However the others are already long gone to separate areas. By the way Luminous, this also means Aurora, my crows are a bit more special and can access Aurora for look out though not a lot of them." Luminous looked slightly stunned but Freud was the one who spoke first. "You mean they already went to the attacked areas?"

"Yes, the moment we came here we used our time fruitfully. When we were training you didn't think that the Black Mage would sit idly by and watch did you? Of course not, that tyrant is always plotting his next move, so we did the same. Right now according to Evan, you stopped the Black Mage from obtaining Rhinne's powers yes?" Freud nodded an affirmative. "Unfortunately for you, Rhinne's powers are an absolute necessary to the Black Mage's plans, so whether he has to sacrifice a bomb for this he will obtain any means possible to reach her."

"But there is a barrier protecting both Alicia and Rhinne as we speak!" Mercedes stated. "Yes but tell me, how many barriers have actually managed to hold for the longest time possible? Fact is, most barriers get shattered somehow and the Black Mage has already found a way to pierce through the barrier and get both Alicia and Rhinne at the same time, you were one step too slow."

* * *

***Le gasp* With this i just identify myself as a plot twister! Oh lol, anyway things _are _speeding up really quickly as a month and a half has passed when Evan had started their hyper skills training, efficient time to hatch a plan no? Oh whoops, shouldn't say anymore~(Oh and P.s for those who are thinking, why isn't Evan hurt? Eclipse just sent him crashing to the floor, there never was any fatal injury.)**

**Well then, Please Review~**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hey there~**

**PCheshire- Wow five times? O.O you must really like it~ Well actually i found a pretty nice picture of LumixBlack Mage drawn by someone on tumblr~ haha its not mine so i don't have it T.T But the Black Mage without his hood looks neat ^^**

**MapleAnimal- i found out anyway(Btw another review from you was finally posted) Haha...wait are you saying if i became a boss or the Black Mage? Because getting bitten by a jaguar and shot at hurts XD Haha i better be careful then...*Turn around to see if anyone is around***

**EK12- Well i find the interviews fairly interesting and you asked because it piqued your interest, having a large amount curiosity is a good thing ^^ And i still didn't know that T.T  
Q1- What was your opinion when first meeting the heroes and Ex-commanders and your present opinion when you first met them in the past?  
Evan: Well...Lets see when i first met Mercedes i thought she was pretty and then Phantom was a flashy and funny guy...Luminous crept me out when i first met him back then because of his e-eye and Aran was plain cold...same for Valfor but i-i never met Von Leon and Damien then only heard of him from the other heroes...Also i thought that Freud was a smart guy when the others mentioned him so highly... Fang: Hmm and your current opinion?  
Evan: W-well i felt sad when i first met them because you know when they...died i really couldn't keep myself together. But i still think of them as my family, even more so when they found out about the future. *Starting to cry* Fang: U-Uwah! Don't cry in front of me! H-Here have a tissue...  
D2- Give the authoress a hug and some cookies!  
Evan: Here you go Fang! Fang:*stops Evan* Haha i'd love to, but i don't think i deserve it especially when i put you through so much. Go hug Phantom there okay? *Tilts head before complying*  
Q3- What would you do before you're gone?  
Evan: W-well, i would- Fang: Sorry Evan, but you can't say, that would be stated when it happens sorry about that *Apologetic smile*  
D3- Make the Black Mage the authoress's pet!  
Evan:*Beats up the Black Mage with loud sounds*Here Fang! You can accept this one right?*Puppy dog eyes* Fang: How sweet of you, thanks~ Black Mage: Unhand me mortal! Fang: I'll name him...cranky! *Evil laughter***

**Pekiunai- Well that chapter definitely warrants some cussing~ Haha right, because the Black Mage, despite proclaiming he knows all, doesn't know that Rhinne chucked EunWol there but instead attacks Naulitus Harbor~ I don't watch Madoka Magica Rebellion though...And yup~ Lucid is down and out!**

**Well then, on with the chapter~**

* * *

"Exactly how do you know all of this?" Von Leon asked as he stepped forward. "All of what you've said could not be just mere speculation, you sound confident and that means you know its going to happen." Spirit Phantom smirked "Although I must admit that there is no fun in being dead it does has its advantages. For one thing I'm not constraint to mana or stamina. And do you know what unlimited mana could do for me?" Seeing the looks of confusion Spirit Phantom sighed and elaborated.

"Simple, I just sent out my crows to every corner of Maple World, they report to the others if they are closest and to me if its important before spreading it. And I think a sighting of the Black Mage on the way to Ereve is counted as important?" The others gave looks of worry "And you decide to mention this now?!" Evan groaned.

"Its because you are going to make it in time as I will stall him for as long as I can. You have to take Lumiere and be on your merry way because my temporary corporeal body can't handle anymore." Spirit Phantom chuckled as he eyed his very translucent hand. "So wait about that final trial that Evan had planned out, you weren't going to last that long from the start?" EunWol asked.

"Don't you see? You passed already, when Evan was being controlled you guys did the one thing that came to mind, you worked together in order to snap him out of it. That was the one thing you were lacking, teamwork. Because you cannot take down the Black Mage if you yourself are disorganized, it will be a deciding factor in your battle as it can be used against you." Spirit Phantom smirked as he slowly disappeared "Now I believe I've said enough, go to Ereve. The others would take care of the other areas so leave now." The group didn't need to be told twice as they all boarded Lumiere.

XXX

The Black Mage strolled across the air at a quickened pace, his eyes making out the island of Ereve. He smirked when he found no interference, by now the others should have went to their respective venues and were carrying out their orders as he continued on his path. Although, the tyrant was not happy when a storm of crows suddenly surrounded him, effectively blocking off any light with its pitch black feathers. The Black Mage growled as he used his chains, only to find that every crow he knocked out, another would replace it.

So he settled for teleporting, however the crows would follow him regardless and block his path. As the Black Mage continued dispatching crow after crow his sharp eyes caught a carte that disappeared every time a crow died. He narrowed his eyes, so this was the work of the elusive thief Phantom! The Black Mage growled and with a burst of dark magic, the surrounding areas parted, leaving a spherical area with absolutely nothing as the tyrant storm towards Ereve.

This petty thief would not stop his plans here! The Black Mage growled as he saw Phantom approach him. "Hmm? What's this? The thief is a mere piece of a soul?" The Black Mage stared curiously, this was not found when he looked into his orb. "Yes so what of it? I died, I had regrets, and I've come to deter you from your plans."

"Foolish human! You cannot stop me! You are a mere pathetic insect!" Spirit Phantom chuckled as he raised his cane "Doesn't matter if I'm an insect, bug or worm as long as accomplish my task here, it would be a victory to me."

XXX

Magnus stared at Leafre with a bored look, would there be anything here? As he watched the dragons take out his squadron, the nova just yawned. This mission was no fun at all. His instincts started to jump though, as he raised the Kaiserium to deflect an attack, Magnus twisted his head and smirked seeing a rather transparent Valfor there.

"What? Did the injuries do you in and you become a ghost or something?" Spirit Valfor snorted "You could say that." Magnus grinned as he took flight "Lets skip the reasoning and get to it!" Spirit Valfor sighed as he knew that the nova was a battle maniac and immediately used his mace to parry as a sword aimed for his neck.

Valfor ducked, dodged right and left as he avoided rapid thrusts from the nova and had pushed away Magnus with his fury before charging in and slamming a foot onto Magnus's stomach when the commander was dazed and landed another clean hit on the head before leaping back as Magnus swung his sword around wildly "That bloody hurt." The half dragon growled while rubbing his head.

"If you underestimate me and have time to be dazed in battle I suggest you concentrate as I'm going to be after your life with all I have." Magnus gave a wide grin as he rested his sword on his shoulder and made the classic 'come-get-me' hand sign "That's more like it! What are you waiting for? Entertain me!" Although Valfor didn't like the way he phrased that, the dead ex-commander stormed in nonetheless.

XXX

Spirit Mercedes stared with disgust as the fallen queen of the fairies, Ephenia pranced around while smirking at her "Mercedes my dear friend! Why don't you consider joining us, I'll even be so kind as to let you work under me! Only a fool would willingly join the losing-" Spirit Mercedes shot an arrow that pierced the fairy's left wing, causing her to screech in pain.

"I have no time for your preaching. I would not even consider such a request." Spirit Mercedes scoffed as Ephenia yelped again when Spirit Mercedes sent volley after volley of arrows at the fairy queen, managing to take out both her wings much to Ephenia's horror. All the while wondering if the elf she sent to Naulitus harbor was alright, then again, it should be fine, Spirit Mercedes had absolute faith in the archer after all. Right now her objective should be defending their home, Elluel.

XXX

Spirit Luminous thought there was no one more annoying then Phantom, both present, future or past. But with Arkarium's constant talking and chattering about how the old mage would beat him to please his master, Spirit Luminous found this worst then Phantom's sarcastic remarks. The mage massaged his temple while considering his options, he was currently weaker then before because Eclipse was not with him, however in exchange he could use his stronger light spells which would have burned him if he attempted. Although it was not enough to compensate the lack of power, it was still acceptable. However the mage did have to account for the people of Aurora as right now space was limited and casting too large a spell would damage the surroundings.

"-As such your defeat is inevitable today! You will burn!" Arkarium yelled as Nagini enlarged and hissed._ Finally, I thought I would be left standing there for the rest of the hours I have left. _Spirit Luminous thought before raising his shining rod. "I care not of your reasons. But it would do me some good to spare me of your gibberish." Arkarium seemed appalled that Spirit Luminous referred to his speech as 'gibberish' but quickly recovered and began his assault.

XXX

Spirit Aran pushed back a large number of monsters as her people scrambled to keep up. The dead pole arm user was more focused on Guwaru then the weak monsters that kept attacking her persistently. The commander was not moving at all, just a mere piece of glowing red rock. Spirit Luminous had elaborated that the only time that happened was when the Black Mage had given Guwaru more dark magic then expected, turning the forest guardian into a mindless doll.

Spirit Aran raised Maha and slashed downwards, lifted his hand as if it was a robot, blocking her move while levitating rocks to fling at her. Spirit Aran easily ducked but fell into a trap as the rocks circled around her, before ramming from all sides. She had held Maha in a horizontal manner and managed to prevent herself from being crushed as she used that opportunity to leap out and slash the commander.

Guwaru looked unaffected by it all as rocks were levitated and flung at her again. Spirit Aran had two options, to either wake the forest guardian by somehow forcing the black magic out or simply defeat Guwaru since the former had no hard base plan behind it, she decided to go for the latter plan.

XXX

Hilla stared in confusion as Athena Pierce was in front of her with a bow out. The necromancer had expected one of the heroes to turn up or maybe even Von Leon and Valfor but not this elf. "Are they mocking me? To send someone so weak to be my opponent?" Hilla said while yawning, Athena frowned as she swiftly, nock, drew and shot. Hilla was surprised that the arrow managed to graze her even when she had perfectly dodged.

"I may not amount to the power Lady Mercedes or her companions have, but it would be foolish to assume that I cannot combat you." Hilla narrowed her eyes and noticed wind element magic circling the arrow, causing the slicing wind to damage the commander. Hilla smirked as a continuous rain of arrows were launched at her, the necromancer flicked her staff and it all crumbled. "Ha! Your attacks could only amount to dust on my clothes." Hilla stated while brushing non-existent dust to prove her point.

Athena Pierce merely stared at her with an un-amused expression the showed that she was not going to fall for her bait or the obvious taunt as the elf archer took aim once again.

* * *

**Well just to say what was going on and who was fighting who.**

**Now cranky, end this!**

**Black Mage: In your pitiful dreams pathetic human.**

**Fang: Right, issues. I'll do it then~**

**Please Review~**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hey~**

**PCheshire-Haha~ I don't have the link, i just know that i found it on askLuminous some where~ I can't say how much he sacrificed, just that he only has lesser then a year left...T.T**

**EK12- Yay~ *picks up magnus* Fang: Hey there little fella~ Magnus- Who is this human? Black Mage: A pathetic one. I am NOT some mortal's pet! Fang: Should i name you too? Hmm, how about 'easily angered'? *Very evil laughter* Magnus: This piece of crap needs to die now. Fang: Haha not happening~ Oh and you should get ample sleep EK12, seriously.**

**MapleAnimal- Often happens, i don't mine though~ Its fun for you T.T Hehe now lets see about that~ No fair i want Pink Bean! *Mock whining***

**Pekiunai- Evan's with the rest of the heroes and Ex-commanders~ No worries there~ Now lets see if i can get the battle right hehe~**

**Fluffy Sakura-chan- What do you mean roleplay~ I was just answering their question~ *Innocent smile* Maybe i should update once a week? Hmm...joking joking~**

**Now then on with the chapter~**

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Aria cursed softly as she hugged her niece, Cygnus closer to her. It was pure bad luck that Cygnus had to arrive today to see Ereve. The young girl stared at her aunt with a curious expression as Shinsoo wrapped its wings around the two, willing to protect at all costs should something goes wrong. Empress Aria had stationed guards everywhere but there was uneasiness that she could not shake off, as well as a feeling of anticipation. The Empress hid her wand near her to be used at a moment's notice.

Just then there was startled shouting as the guards pointed to the sky, Aria looked up and felt her heart leap at the sight of the elegant Lumiere sailing across the sky, landing near the battleground. She could not feel more safe, the heroes have arrived and not a moment too late either. A guard reported that the civilians had been gathered and placed at the safest place possible. A crow flew and landed on Cygnus's head as it played out a message in a voice that she had missed dearly for these few months "Aria, the Lumiere is available for boarding, have the civilians board it, I've already given explicit instructions to take them to a sheltered area, and it would be good that you board it as well for I fear about your safety and wellbeing. Ereve would most likely turn into a battle field soon, it is unwise to stay here." The crow then disappeared.

Aria immediately told the guard her orders to evacuate the civilians "But what about you Mi'lady?" Aria shook her head "No, I will stay. I cannot just leave my guards here as I turn tail and run." Neinheart protested loudly at this, the Empress's safety is top priority. However Aria just stared with grim determination, causing the adviser to back down. The Empress wanted Cygnus and Shinsoo to escape at least, but the holy beast remained where it was and Cygnus tugged at her robes desperately, a sign that she did not want to go. "But you'll be in danger if you stay child." Aria said softly.

Cygnus shook her head and latched onto Aria more persistently, the young child didn't know why either, she just felt that something important was going to happen and that it was important. Shinsoo stared at Aria before saying serenely "It is my duty to protect you. I would not leave if you are not going to." The guards saluted to her with equal determination and loyalty. Aria could not help but glanced around in shock, she didn't think that they were so loyal to their cause.

"…..Alright then, but make sure to stand your ground. If anything happens, do not fear to flee, just make sure you do your best to see the next sunrise."

XXX

The Black Mage had stepped into the holy ground of Ereve, the pesky thief had been dealt with easily but the tyrant just did not feel accomplished when he saw that arrogant, satisfied and victorious smirk the thief gave, to put it simply, it was unsettling. Each step he took, life dies around him, each time his chains clang together like a bell signifies a death sentence. The Black Mage realized there was no one there, he cackled. It was perfect! They quivered in fear just like he wanted them to, like the little rats they were.

But alas, there was always someone standing up to him. Always. He growled and opened a portal for numerous monsters to flood in like water, they charged towards the ten figures that stood in front of them with weapons raised. The Black Mage was surprised when he heard the sound of a warcry as numerous Ereve knights stormed in to take care of the monsters he summoned, why? Why was there people still here? Why was there people who still persistently try to interfere with him? Couldn't they see that he was the one who was going to set forth a new, brilliant world?!

Phantom was slightly stunned that Aria had not left yet "What? I told her to leave!" The guard shook his head "She did not want to, she said that she could not turn tail and run when her guards were here doing battle." The thief wanted to groan, there has got to be a limit to how selfless one could be! But he inwardly smiled since he knew that that woman was always like that. The guard went to join his comrades in pushing back the monsters as they paved open a path for the ten figures to sprint straight to the Black Mage.

EunWol was the one that went in first, the pirate had leaped and attempted to give the Black Mage a good hit to his cloaked head, but there was a persistent barrier that kept him out. Valfor went in next and unleashed all his fury at one point, trying to pierce a good hole into the barrier, Von Leon went into his compact beast form and assisted him, eventually a crack showed itself as the Black Mage repelled them backwards to prevent his barrier to be taken down.

Freud frowned, they had very limited space here, they couldn't do much since the area was over crowded, one look from Evan had them thinking the same thing: They had to take the battle elsewhere. Evan frantically looked around and saw a clearing in a forest, the brunette jerked his head there before mounting Mir and took of to that destination. Freud knew what that meant and immediately mounted Afrien. Freud whispered to Phantom who was blown back when he tried to attack the Black Mage's blind spot "Phantom I need you to create a big fuss for me as I complete a transportation spell to take the battle elsewhere. I'm sure more space would benefit us more."

The thief nodded as he filled the others in on Freud plan, the rest continuously rained attacks on the tyrant to prevent him from seeing Freud as he maneuvered Afrien's claws to craw a symbol on the ground. Aran finally swung her pole arm down with full force together with Maha's blessing and had shattered the irritating barrier, stunning the Black Mage, Mercedes took this chance to fire arrows towards him while attempting to pin his cloak onto the ground with her arrows.

Though it didn't work as the Black Mage protected himself by deflecting the arrows with his chains and flung it back to the archer, Mercedes did not expect that move and had her left arm grazed with one of the arrows, causing the elf queen to flinch. The Black Mage smirked but didn't get a chance to attack her as Luminous and Phantom blocked the chains, giving the elf some time to move aside.

The black Mage growled in anger as his next set of chains were knocked away by Von Leon and Valfor, the former had an iron grip on one of his chains and attempted to pull the Black Mage in, Valfor took this chance and landed a clean hit on the tyrant's shoulder joint and heard it crack much to his satisfaction. Aran twirled Maha as she and EunWol managed to get a few clean hits to The Black Mage's head. The tyrant roared in anger as he used his good hand to command his chains to push the others back, he flung Von Leon back with one strong tug and smirked in satisfaction as the lion flew into hard ground.

His satisfaction was wiped off easily when he noticed his was standing on a large transportation circle. The black Mage growled as it started to activate and was shocked when he couldn't teleport out of the circle as arrows that came out of no where pinned his cloak down while black chains which were not his wrapped around his waist and dug deep into the ground to hold him still. The tyrant roared in absolute pure hatred as he was teleported into the forest to face another dragon master, the other also teleported with him. He glanced around before ripping away the chains, feeling not much struggle and roared.

"Why do you have dark magic saint Luminous?!" he spat "You are nothing more then my cast off light, you dare imitate me?! And you, pirate! Who taught you your spirit wielding skills?!" EunWol frowned "I don't have any reason to tell you." Luminous held Eclipse in from coming out and spitting the most tainting things on maple as it was not helpful right now. "I am not imitating you nor am I just a mere cast off light." Luminous said calmly as he raised his shining rod. Phantom sprinted up first as he thrusted quickly with Mille Aiguilles while Freud covered for him, reflecting away any chains that were trying to sneak up on him or the others when they tried to attack.

Eventually the Black Mage got fed up and bound everyone where they stood as he cackled before pointing arrow headed chains on each of their throats. "You have overstepped your boundaries _heroes_." The Black Mage cackled "I was intending on using you, but you have made me change my mind." Phantom managed to wiggle his hand free as a rose imprinted carte instantly appeared on his finger. "You mistake us Black Mage, we're not just mere pawns. _You _are a dastardly character destined to be defied. You are supposed to step out of the stage and not hold the limelight, for the finale is mine."

The Black Mage roared angrily and was about to take their lives but the carte had already been released into the air and had shot down mercilessly, shattering their binding chains while shredding his cloak, scratching him in the process. That one second of him flinching enabled them to use all of their strongest skills on him, he was blasted by strong powerful spells but managed to survive with a mere critical injury even by his standards, his black blood leaked onto the ground, causing it to hiss as if the land itself rejected him.

The heroes were posed for one more attack until an explosion which happened at the direction of the palace occurred and took away their attention on the black mage. The tyrant cackled "You fools you've lost! You have indulged me so much of your time that you didn't even know I could just send one of my commander after the Empress of Ereve did you?!" The black mage cackled as he retreated into the dark portal to recover himself while the heroes stared at the smoke in shock.

Why hadn't they noticed when a blur slipped past them which was heading to the palace? Had….they failed? Little did they know that the commander sent had been spotted by someone, someone who was missing since the mock battle against the Black Mage had started.

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**Is it me being evil again? Who knows~**

**Please Review~**


	25. Chapter 24

**Hey~**

**PCheshire- Yup that person will! Haha anymore sadism and Evan is going to be a scary person you know? There's this saying, the kind ones you shouldn't anger XD**

**MapleAnimal- Noooo the loveable pinkish beannnnn me want~ *Pulls pink bean away from you* Ah, but i can pass you Evan and Mir though *Throws the two towards MapleAnimal* Evan: H-Hey! Fang: Hehe, MapleAnimal wants you so there~ Haha who knows about Aria's fate though~**

**EK12- 1-14 Gb?! That is huge, and the new character seems interesting~ I can't read japanese either, but i understand some of it :p Yeah the song was not bad hmm~ Haha i don't see those type of videos so often though~**

**Pekiunai- *Points towards myself* M-me? I'm evil? *Mock sobbing* Oh lol joking joking~ But in my defense i'm not _that_ evil~**

**Now then, on with the chapter~**

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Orchid snarled to herself, she was absolutely confident that she had slipped past the heroes who were more concentrated on the Black Mage. So how is it that _he_ knew she was here! Her plan was flawless, go in and kill Shinsoo, obtain the jewel on its forehead to please the Black Mage and slaughter Aria as revenge for her brother, everything was aligned so nicely too! So why is it that it always failed! Damien shook his sword once and twice, ridding it of the blood that splat on his sword when he flew in to slash at Orchid's thigh, forcing her back. The commander suffered some burns too as the spell she was using backfired on herself causing an explosion.

The commander was clenching her wound while growling in a predatory in manner. Damien gave a confident looking smirk as he stabbed his sword on the ground, his one eye glaring at Orchid, behind was Empress Aria who was holding a interested looking Cygnus, Neinheart lay collapsed on one floor with a bleeding shoulder wound, the guards had all been knocked out easily.

Orchid seem to look less and less amused by the arrogant manner, the demon's brother held his head high and was more expressive then his brother but not as powerful. Damien maintained his look, all the while hoping it looked correct, inwardly the demon was quite nervous as he had never done that before but he saw the other him do it and it looked good on him so he imitated. Orchid was limping towards him, she was determined to try to kill the Empress and Shinsoo because if she failed now, the Black Mage would kill her anyway.

Damien's eyes held a tiny shred of pity, he was still young he couldn't help but feel that the girl's loyalty had been placed wrongly. Damien steeled himself though, Mister Leon had taught him that often to not he would have to take the life of another but for some reason he felt as if he done this before. Was he ruthless killer? To not have felt anything if he stabbed the sword straight through the girl's heart?

Orchid gritted her teeth as she could sense pity, she didn't need pity! The commander sprinted and took out her weapon in a pitiful attempt to slash her opponent, Damien closed his eyes and gave a short sigh as he side stepped it easily, he felt Aria staring at him as he parried and dodged, could she sense the pity that he felt? Or is it that she felt the same way? But when Damien turned around, he was met when pure blue orbs of sadness, Cygnus was no better, easily picking up her aunt's pain.

Damien came to a decision "I apologize before hand. Forgive me." Orchid became further enraged but it soon turned into pain as a sword stabbed her heart, a quick clean and swift death. She soon staggered and collapsed as Damien pulled his sword out and had his hands out to catch her before she fell onto the ground, gently placing the body down and used his hand to close the commanders eyes, giving a moment of mourning before standing up and facing the empress.

Aria stood up and knelt down beside the body, giving a moment of mourning as well, Cygnus and Shinsoo did the same. "This was one of my mistakes. Back then, I was a rather snobbish ruler, ignorant to the struggling of the world. When she and her brother came to me, I ignored them. It is my fault, I know that they will never forgive me, I deserved it." Damien nodded before giving a rather sheepish smile, tinged with a small amount of sadness "Well….I wouldn't know, I make mistakes too but learning from them is important right?" Aria seemed stunned before giving a nod as Cygnus went over to the demon giving him a curious glance because the demon was as tall as her but braver and stronger then she could ever be.

"You're nice mister." She said with a bright smile, Damien blushed slightly while a finger scratched his face as Aria chuckled at the expression, despite his demeanor at battle just now, this one was a gentleman through and through.

"Aria are you alright?!" The empress turned at the sound of Phantom's voice and saw him as well as the other heroes who were running towards her and panted when they stopped their sprint. "Yes I'm fine, thanks to that gentleman over there." The heroes look to see Damien having a hard time when Cygnus was curiously asking questions about him while tugging his fur coat. Valfor seemed rather shocked as did the other heroes.

"How did you know that a commander would have sneaked passed us?" He asked his brother "I not that sure, I just had an odd feeling like I really had to go somewhere and it led me to following Orchid back here." Damien said with a small shrug, Von Leon seemed pleased and proud at what Damien had done as he went over to pet the younger Damien with a smile "It seems you've put what I taught you to good use." Cygnus had went with the others to check the collapsed guards as the two had their private time.

"….Mister Leon?" Damien asked "What is it?" The young demon hesitated before burying his head into Von Leon's fur coat "I…just killed someone, but I don't feel any remorse. Am I heartless being?" Von Leon seemed startled before gently petting Damien's head "No child, it often isn't like that. You kill because you had to, but you didn't want to did you? And just now when you interacted with that young girl there, you showed a few amusing emotions," Damien blushed at that "you are a kind child, never forget that as it is your strong point."

Evan had called of them to gather in a semi circle in front of the empress, the young brunette had whispered something into Aria's ear, the empress was nodding with a serious expression. "Its time to take your oath. You guys didn't do that did you? The final battle is coming up, the Black Mage is recuperating, now is the chance to strike." Evan stated as he kneeled in front of the Empress.

The other heroes were confused at first but soon understood as they each began kneeling down, though the commanders were very hesitant. "That means you too Von Leon, Valfor and Damien. You may be once enemies but now you're allies." Aria said with a smile as the three finally caved in and kneeled down. Shinsoo stood beside Aria as the holy beast and empress said in a unison voice,

"Do you, brave warriors, who have started with different beginnings, different lives, different motives and have come together for a single purpose so swear that you would defend Maple world and all its people, be it family or enemy from harm?" the others glanced at each other, their answer was obvious, they felt Shinsoo giving its blessing to them which filled them with strength as they replied.

"We so swear it on our lives."

XXX

Evan panted and collapsed into his room in Lumiere as Mir hastily tried to hold his master up "Master what's wrong? You look pale." Evan waved his hand as he settled on his bed "No I'm fine Mir really! I just overexerted myself." The dragon stared in silence as golden eyes bore into light blue ones "Master you've been hiding something from me." Mir growled, sounding very predator like, making Evan flinch at the sudden fierce voice and its implication.

"I'm really fine Mir…" Evan said weakly. "Master, you're lying." The brunette gulped as Mir rested beside him on his bed while growling when Evan made a single movement. "…..Okay you got me. I'm definitely hiding something, but I promise, when this is all over, you'll know what it is alright?" Evan said with as much determination he could muster. Hearing that his master was telling the truth, Mir got off and went out but not before saying "Master I'll get something for both of us to eat! I'm know you're hungry!"

Evan chuckled "Don't empty the fridge! You know how mister Phantom is like when you do that!" his laughs soon turned into a deep sigh, when he was sure that Mir was already long gone he whispered "Mir…..I'm so sorry…..Please forgive me for lying to you this once….!" Evan sobbed as his hand gripped the glowing mark on his chest, it depicts a hourglass, a sign that someone has dealt with the usage of time. "I don't have very long left….I wonder, did I fulfill my task of making them proud..?" Evan murmured before shaking his head.

"No, now's not the time for this. We still have to make our final stand tomorrow at dawn." Evan said as he covered the mark with his robes and was shocked when he sensed another presence just outside the room. "Who's…there?" Evan said weakly had the person saw and heard what he had said? "What do you mean when you have not much time left?" Evan started in shock when he found out that it was EunWol who had entered his room.

"…You were listening in?" EunWol closed the door gently as he went up to Evan and yanked away the robes to examine the hourglass print that was dimly shining. "What does this mean?" EunWol asked as his hand traced the mark. "It…means the amount of time I have left….When this stops shining, my life will end." Evan said softly as his hand unintentionally wrapped around the pirate's waist, snuggling up to his warmth. "Why would you go so far? And what for?"

"You weren't here when I summoned the spirits of the dead heroes back here were you? I paid the cost of my time, I don't regret it just, the thought of death suddenly scares me…" Evan mumbled as EunWol hugged back and slowly brought the young brunette to rest near the bed, following suit as Evan tighten his hand around EunWol's waist desperately "Just….I need someone's company for awhile could you stay? I-I'll be fine soon." EunWol playfully flicked Evan's forehead while mumbling "You didn't have to ask, now go to sleep."

As the two soon fell asleep, EunWol vowed to get a word or two with the others, he just knew that it had something to do with them.

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**I really needed to stop twisting things hehe~**

**ANYway, i have an announcement~ I'll be a bit busy for awhile so i won't update till i get something, you could consider this a tiny break :D**

**Now then grumpy and easily angered, would you do the honor?**

**Black Mage and Magnus: *snarling* Review, there.**

**Fang: *Sigh***


	26. Chapter 25

**Hehe...Hey guys~ *Shot with spells* Ok ok i get that i'm wayyyyy behind schedule but honestly that wasn't my intention~ DX Well i'm back and i hope i'll be able to update once a day again~ ^^**

**PCheshire- Hehe you're forgetting Freud! I swear he's scary when pissed *shivers* I see EunWol as the more joking and kind brother so those fluffy scenes are expected XD Maybe i am, maybe i'm not hehe~**

**EK12- Nah still can't imagine it~ The black mage shall remain the cloaked man he is besides i only need one Lumi and clips! Now then its Phantom and Aria's turn right? I'll get those love birds out~ *Gets dragged* Phantom: What is your reason for ruining my alone time with Aria*Empress is blushing~*, Fang? Fang: You know the drill now lets go on with the questions!  
Q1) What makes you feel attracted to each other?  
Phantom:Well~ Maybe its because she doesn't fall for my charm so easily nor does she love me because of my mesos, she's a kind and determined woman. Aria: *Blushes* Oh my. Well i don't know myself, he's just such an odd thief with humor that treated me like a normal person i guess because he made me feel free. Fang: Aww~  
D1) Spank Cranky, Phantom and Aria tell Evan not to waste his life.  
Phantom: With pleasure! *Goes off to torture cranky* Aria: Actually i'm in no position to do such a thing since i'm likely to do the same myself... Evan: And besides, i don't consider this a waste of my life! *pouts* Fang: Selfless people you two are *Sniffles*  
Q2) What do you think of the heroes?  
Aria: Well, i think of them as extremely close friends that i can share my problems with since Mercedes and Aran both are leaders of their respective race and/or clans. Phantom: I actually think of them as family, especially Evan, he's like a son to me and i say this quite awkwardly since i only feel this way towards them (Yes even Luminous, though he's more of an annoying distant cousin)  
Fang :Aww~ Touching~ We'll do the rest next chapter EK12~**

**Pekiunai- I take that as a compliment! XD Though i thought i was writing angst hope that's not the case ^^**

**MapleAnimal- Sure thing hehe~ You two behave now~ *Waves handkerchief at Evan and Mir* Well its not my fault the feel Pikachu attacked me (Yes, pikachu anyone has a problem with my plot mouse?) Hehe you're welcome XD Lets see whether they will find out far too late or will something happen at this chapter? Hehe i'll be evil and not say~**

**Kiri Kaitou Clover- Ohh i didn't write this after i saw your challenge though i just felt like it :D I'm glad you're enjoying it~ As for Henesys i didn't know that DX i thought it already existed...hmm maybe cause i'm writing with what i currently know but thanks for pointing that out ^^(God i feel like there's so many holes in this XD) Hehe i can't tell if its that nicely written since i'm an amateur writer but thanks for the compliment~ *Hands a cake and some tissues***

**Kyliegurl13- Hehe can't tell you where i am buut~ i can give you a hug! *hugs* I'm relieved you like this story now as i'm hoping that things gets more explained as it goes on ^^ XD as for pairings i really dont know if i should even add pairings now because its quite hard to orchestrate that part as i suck at romance *sob* I'll see if i can stuff anything but really no promises~ As for Evan that will be my se-cr-et~**

**Now then on with it~**

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The Black Mage had severely injured the wounded commanders that had returned with news of failure. The areas they were sent to had sustained collateral damage but little to none of the townsfolk had been killed, the commanders came back injured because of the dead heroes(and one Athena pierce) whom were able to repel their attacks. The only good side was that the dead heroes had disappeared for good most likely from lack of time rather than wounds sustained in battle.

Right now there were crater after crater in his throne room and around the area was the commanders sprawled all over, no doubt one or two may not be waking anytime soon. "Worthless!" The Black Mage spat as he kicked aside the unconscious Arkarium away. "I should have taken things into my own hands." Oh yes, the heroes were not getting away. He would have a most befitting trap set up.

XXX

When EunWol woke up at four in the morning to see Evan still sleeping while snuggling up to him, he had to smile for a bit. The pirate as subtly as possible slipped out of the room but not before hefting Mir and placing the dragon on the bed beside the brunette and tucking them both in, a cute sight he had to admit but there were other things he had to do now.

EunWol opened the door to the living room of Lumiere as roughly as he could to see the others gearing up for a fight (Besides the two sleeping children) "Why?" the pirate asked, causing the rest to be confused "Why what?" Phantom asked. "Why didn't you try to stop him?! He shouldn't have used his time like that!" The group continued to be more puzzled until Freud stood up and ushered the pirate into another room.

"Did Evan tell you about that?" "Yes he did. Wait, the others don't know of this do they?" Freud shook his head "No I'm afraid not. Evan wanted to keep that his secret, the only ones who know are me, you and Eclipse." EunWol clenched his fist "What made him go so far? I don't understand, he's still young yet…." Freud gave a sad smile "I'm not too sure of that myself. But as you and I have probably guessed, it has something to do with the others in there."

"….Isn't there anything we could do?" EunWol asked pleadingly "Our options on that matter is limited at most. I have used whatever free time I had to see if there is any spells to prolong life, but the spell itself is either forbidden or non-existent. However, there is still two hours before we arrive would you like to help?" EunWol had never been so eager to look at books before.

XxX

Evan woke up not too long after EunWol did and began his daily routines before settling on his desk again, scribbling the final part of the last spell he would most likely cast. Whether they ended up victorious or not, he was sure the Black Mage would cast the same curse to freeze the heroes in time and if he could not cancel the spell, the least he could do would be to direct it somewhere else. More specifically on himself "Either way time is short for me. Might as well not drag the others down as well." The brunette chuckled as he placed the final incantation "There. Wow making spells are hard."

As it stands he had no idea if it would work or not, mainly due to the fact that this was probably one of the most major spells the he had ever wrote before, the other being the spell to summon the dead spirits "Speaking of them, they probably have returned already." Evan said with a sigh he was hoping that they could chat a bit more but time was not on their side.

"_Child…."_ Evan perked up at the sound of Rhinne's voice "Is there something the matter goddess?" _"Are you sure you want to go through with your plan?"_ Evan nodded "Definitely, with this, should something happen I would have no regrets." The brunette stood and stretched as he left his desk.

"_You may have no regrets, but the friends that you will leave behind will have plenty."_

XxX

To say the other heroes were curious was an understatement. They were discussing on their plans to send Von Leon's army to help areas and as a reinforcement for Ereve should something happened again, Valfor himself already told Mastema to keep guard at Ereve but it was for added precaution. However right now, they were more curious as to what the pirate meant by not stopping Him from carelessly using His time.

So they were all currently peeping inside Freud's room as he, and EunWol was searching for information in books. Eclipse even showed up at one point, carrying books from the library into the room, what on maple were they trying to do especially when they had less then two hours before the final battle? Phantom hushed the others as Freud started talking.

"Its no use. If there was a spell that could extend the life of another then many would have sought it already most likely for their own personal greed." Extending someone's life? "Maybe we're approaching this wrong…" EunWol stated as he was deep in thought "What are you talking about?" Eclipse growled.

"Of course there is no way to extend someone's life but what about transferring our own life-force into another? That way it was more fair and feasible as a strong spell has to have a heavy price." Freud nodded as he considered that possibility while Eclipse was already searching through books. "Damn this, Sunfire is better at this crap then I am." Eclipse growled as he threw one book that caught his interest at Freud who caught it effortlessly.

"Everyone has their strong points, just like how the group on the other side of the door has someone good at shrouding to listen into our conversation." The other two twisted around as there was a fuss outside the door. Eunwol opened the door and the group fell into the room one atop of another "Ouch…Give some warning before you do that! The others were leaning on me to listen in you know and they aren't lightweight." Phantom grumbled, his voice muffled from being under the dog pile.

"That isn't the main concern!" Mercedes hissed as she stood up and strolled in front of the scholar "Freud what are you researching about? Whose life-force do you plan to extend?" The scholar glanced to his two companions as they gave different looks, EunWol wanted them to know while Eclipse wanted them to stay silent about it. "Well actually-"

"Hey guys? What are you doing on the floor?" Evan chirped as he saw them all in weird positions on the ground "Nothing much, they were curious about something I'm researching on." Freud said hastily as the other two went to hide the books. "Really? I didn't think they had an interest in that. By the way have you seen Mir? He wasn't on my bed when I woke up." EunWol immediately answered "Oh I saw him with Afrien awhile back." Evan gave the I-got-it gesture as he went to search for his partner.

Eclipse forced the others out "You don't need to know so scram." the dark mage stated grumpily as he closed the door. "You know I believe they deserved to know." EunWol said with a frown. "If they're that thick that they can't notice then they don't deserve it. The kid's been panting and looking like he's about to collapse every damned day and they can't tell so no, I doubt they should know."

Freud intercepted as a fight was about to break out "We'll deal with who should know later, we need all the time we can to research about the life transfer spell, there is no time to argue. We can lecture them and Evan when the time is appropriate." "And if they try to listen in again?" "Don't worry about that, I can sense another who somewhat knows in that group, he'll merely deter them from asking." The two nodded albeit hesitantly as they went back to research.

XxX

"The nerve of that guy! He didn't have to force us out!" Mercedes grumbled as they stood somewhat close to Freud's room. "Should we listen in again?" Aran asked, her sixth sense was telling her this was important. "No we shouldn't." Valfor said as the others turned to stare at him with confusion. "Whatever they are working on is their private business, I thought we had other plans like discussing who to send to which area and Von Leon's army reinforcement?" Valfor turned to look at Von Leon and hoped the lion understood what he was trying to say, thankfully he did "I agree, if something happens and we were not able to send troops in time for medical care, things might get worse down there."

The others finally remembered about that and went about in a heated discussion on where they left off as they headed back into the living room, Valfor turned to stare at Freud's door "Whatever spell they're planning better work." Von Leon gave a somewhat curious glance "A bit out of character for you to worry about something. I'm sure you knew who they were talking about." It was a statement. The demon snorted.

"Definitely, you had to be incredibly dense not to know. Whatever the case, from the look that scholar was giving me, he wanted me to distract them. If it meant giving time to them to concentrate I care not what I have to do." Von Leon gave a wry smile "That child must really be special to you then." The demon stopped walking "He's…something close to family. Is it not the same for you?" Von Leon hummed to himself and nodded as the two followed the other planning heroes.

* * *

**Okay~ While i hate giving the Black Mage some satisfaction on wining it feels weird that he keeps losing hmm~ Maybe its because Evan already know his attack patterns~ *Evil Face* but Our poor Evan is suffering *Sob***

**A-Anyway just giving a run down on what happens before the final battle~**

**Fang: Hmm should Cranky, Easily angered end this or maybe Evan? Yeah Evan you haven't done this in awhile!**

**Evan: Okay then umm please review?**


	27. Chapter 26

**Finally got the chapter out but hmm not satisfied with it...i need to come up with something more exciting or it'll just be repeated events T.T it'll work out somehow i guess~ Oh right i forgot to say that updates might be random but i'll get the chapters out as quickly as i can but maybe not to the daily updates that i had before though *Sobs***

**MapleAnimal- XD over dramatic~ Nah i'm almost done so i wouldn't give it up~ I get that a lot sometimes i just want to hop into canon maple and hug EunWol, he needs it . Its the thought that counts no worries~^^ And you shouldn't downgrade yourself~**

**EK12- Oh there is? Might need to check that out~ Haven't done so in awhile . EunWol's english name is shade? Really maple? Nah i'll just stick to EunWol its much better and oh you can't genderbend Aran, believe me, many tried XD Now then, resumed interview~  
D2) Tell cygnus you're married to each other.  
Phantom: Most definitely! Why not we just get married now Aria dear that be- Aria: Don't you have a battle to go to Phantom? *Phantom is already missing* Phantom: Now Cygnus, Marriage is when two people looove each other a lot and want to be together forever~ Cygnus: Really?! Then Uncle Phantom is going to be Aunt Aria? Phantom: Yes yes because we love each other~ Cygnus: Yay! I love Phantom but Aunt Aria needs you right? Then i'll go marry Neinheart! Phantom: O.O Stop. right. there.  
Q3) What do you want to do to Cranky?  
Phantom: Isn't that simple? I would kick that bas- Aria: Phantom, Language. Phantom: incorrigible tyrant ass- Aria: _Phantom._ Phantom: Butt, to the very depths of Maple then slaughter him again and then tear him and- Aria: Forgive him, he has far too many inappropriate things to say. I for one still think Peace is the way to go.  
D3) A child safe version of Q3.  
Phantom: There is no child safe version when a rip that incorrigible tyrant into pieces and feed him to Aran's wolves! Fang: Phantom is on a roll today, as for Aria, already very child safe ^^**

**KylieGurl13- *Sobs* Still can't do romance . I only pair them in a more brother-sister manner~ XD you flatter me~ I don't know if i'll even continue typing after this story~ Anyone can do it if they try nothing to be jealous of (Especially not my grammatical errors here and there XD)**

**On to the new chapter~**

* * *

Back in the future, Alpha and Beta could no longer hold up the barrier even with all the extra help as the Black mage relentlessly attacked it with whatever he had, including his army of creatures that did not cease assaulting the sacred graves day and night. Alpha gave a big toothy grin_ The way he keeps attacking means that he's getting beyond desperate, he must have noticed the change and drop in his powers._

"_**OPEN IT! OPEN THE TIME PORTAL!"**_ The Black Mage roared in complete fury as he stepped into the field that Alpha and Beta had fled to in order to prevent the graves from getting destroyed. "I thought you were going to sit at the sidelines? Why? Did that one tiny rat finally became a large infestation?" Alpha was blown back as several hundred chains came in contact with his barrier but the force was more then powerful.

"**I have no time for your petty talk brat. Either you open the portal or I finish you!"** Alpha coughed blood as Beta ran towards him to help him up "And what if I say that even if I did opened the portal, you will not be able to enter?" The Black Mage scoffed **"Preposterous! That is for me to decide! OPEN the time portal now!"** Alpha gave a smirk as he waved his hand, and immediately a portal appeared.

XXX

The three sighed in relief as they had finally managed to finish the spell as Lumiere touched down on the temple of time. Freud couldn't cast the spell as they didn't have time for that and resolved to do it after battle…..should they survive. Each of them geared up and were walking on the path that would lead to the black Mage's throne room, but it was not easy as horde after horde of monsters intercepted them and it was getting worst when the beaten up commanders decided to show up.

Evan gritted his teeth as he parried Magnus's hard blows while calculating who was present, currently all commanders were present, weakened but still strong. "You guys head to the throne room! I'll handle this!" Evan shouted as Mir tackled away a large bull monster while Evan smacked others away with Aran's polearm. "There's too many even you wouldn't stand long!" Freud said as Afrien glided through the room while unleashing spell after spell, but each monster that fell, another would take its place.

"Trust me! Head to the throne room! We don't have time!" Evan grunted as he repelled another monsters and immediately put up a water dome as Arkarium attempted to fry him with black lightning. "Freud and the rest go. I'll stay with Evan." Von Leon encouraged as he turned into his huge lion form and slashed away the enemies with ease. "I'll stay too. That would assure you right? I'm sure four of us would be more than enough." Damien assured as he slashed another with his sword.

After much hesitation the rest decided to storm down the hallway while Evan, Mir, Damien and Von Leon caused a big ruckus at the main hall. Evan smiled as he saw them go, this time all six would go in together, they would pull through, he had faith. "Now then, I believe we're supposed to raise hell here." Von Leon and Mir grinned as they went wild against the monsters, aiming fire, laser and anything they had up their arsenal. Damien clashed swords with Magnus while Evan had Arkarium.

"What's this? A midget?" Magnus snorted but did not expect Damien to unleash his fury and managing to push the nova back. Damien had a big smirk on "You'll being beaten by this midget, how does that feel?" Magnus howled in laughter as he pushed back with full force "Depends if the midget is weak or not."

The half-dragon took flight as he launched columns of fire from his hands, Damien slid under him and jumped while delivering a vertical slash which was easily dodged. Magnus grinned as he kicked the young demon back onto the ground "Try harder, at this rate you're not even a warm up." Damien snarled at that as encased his sword with rage as he leaped upwards once more.

"You fool, do you truly think that they would stand a chance?!" Arkarium howled as he summoned his robed servants to attack Evan, all the while clutching his ribs as they were not healed "Not 'think'. I know they can." Evan said calmly as he called upon another ancient Onyx dragon, Ladon. Ladon instantly incinerated the small fry with blue fire while Von Leon took this chance to change into his compact beast form to get revenge on Hilla.

"This time witch, your end is here." Von Leon had encased his claws and sword with his flame, somewhat shocking the necromancer. The lions swung his sword down hard but did not expect Guwaru to come in to fight against him. Von Leon grunted as smacked the rock into pieces, only to have it reform instantly.

Evan gave a inward sigh of relief, at this rate they might be able to handle the situation after all. But that relief was short lived as a sudden pain was felt in his chest, the brunette gripped his time insignia while panting, someone was trying to force his/her way through! Did Alpha and Beta opened the time portal for the Black Mage? Mir immediately swooped in before Arkarium could use this opportunity to blast Evan to pieces.

"_Rhinne I beseech thee,_" Evan whispered as he panted, feeling the power of the goddess of time flowing around him "_Under this spell and my name I reject the time portal's opening!_" The portal that opened had immediately been blocked, this spell had been peculiar, it depicts a mage being able to reject the abuse usage of time powers as long as the caster has the goddess of time assisting with the spell, though all depends if the mage had the strength to keep the spell up.

Evan calmed down as the pain slowly receded but was still there as he continued his match with Arkarium. He could only keep the Black Mage on the other end from interfering for so long and that is if Alpha doesn't open another portal anytime soon, he had to finish this now.

XXX

The Black Mage growled as he attempted to smash the barrier that prevented his entrance **"What did you do!"** He growled as he launched his chains towards Beta but Alpha parried as Beta smashed the chains to pieces. "We did nothing." Alpha said with a shrug as he waved away the portal, the gap in time was immediately closed. "However that doesn't mean we don't know anything." Beta filled in as she caught what Alpha was trying to plan.

"**You dare defy me!"** The transcendent of time raised their weapons as the black mage attempted blow after blow of dark magic, the battle between two transcendent shook the very land as they exchanged blows, neither giving an inch. "_Ironic,_" Alpha thought "_Being the Transcendent of time and yet I can't do something like freezing time itself to buy myself time._"

XXX

The Black Mage cackled as he caught the heroes in his trap, they were hasty and entered in without any care or caution and fell into the trap. The heroes could barely moved as the gravity pounded hard on them "This is a gravity spell….! But that is impossible!" Freud grunted as he tried his hardest not to be pressed into the floor.

"I thought we should have learnt not to use the word impossible with this guy….!" Phantom gave a weak chuckle as he attempted to force himself up The Black Mage cackled "Indeed, you shouldn't have overstepped your boundaries. I was even planning on using you to continue with my plans, only if you had been more obedient and easy to manipulate but you were overly-intelligent and this time, i'll finish you off with my own hands!" The tyrant raised his hand and swung it down, causing a rain of spears to levitate just above the heroes, a second before it strike.

* * *

**Okay, one of these days i'm gonna write a chapter that has more then three thousand words maybe for the ending chapter i will because honestly i need to extend but i'm sort of lazy *Admits it***

**Well then since everyone is pretty much in battle i'll end this!**

**Please Review~**


	28. Chapter 27

**Omg another chapter *Gasps* Managed to get motivation for this one ^^**

**MapleAnimal- XD you can't suffocate Evan and Mir before they help Freud and the others~ But yes his life would not be in vain! But still deciding on his fate though~ . I'm thinking of seeing if i'll make side stories of this, who knows?**

**EK12- I like Zero as well~ Their friendly sibling quarreling is definitely one of the reasons XD And genderbended Evan? I never thought of that! Lets see what they think of each other~ (Ah, but for the fun of it, they won't know they're the same person XD)  
So what do you think of each other?  
Evan: Well she's actually quite cute i guess...*Blushes and can't say anything else* Evelyn: I...think the same too...*Face turns red* Fang: Aww they're shy~ (Lets not say that they think of themselves as cute XD)  
Do you like Mir/Mirta?  
Evan &amp; Evelyn: Of course! Mir/Mirta is my partner and friend and i would die then let something happen to him/her! *Turns to stare at each other* Fang: And there is your answer~**

**Godigimon: Well yeah i guess twenty plus chapters _is_ a bit long and i do agree that the last one is short, i can't seem to extend it anymore at that time . Well they actually are more rushed because they left Evan and the others to face the commanders and were worried ^^ Actually from what i heard (Or thought) Valfor is demonslayer's official name i think~**

**Well (Finally) Onto the next chapter~**

* * *

Eclipse had forced his way into control as he commanded chains of his owns to repel against the Black Mage's causing the group to watch in shock as the dark mage stood up effortlessly and went into equilibrium the next second, leaping and sending a mix of light and dark magic at the Black Mage who easily countered with his barrier. "Freud figure out the gravity spell! Despite how it looks its not infallible otherwise the Black Mage would fall prey to it too!" Luminous yelled as he teleported away and countered once more.

"Oh so that's why Mr Stuck up can move, it doesn't affect dark magic wielders." Phantom said as he tried to move. "Not the time for arguing with nicknames Phantom! Freud any bright ideas?" Mercedes said while barely keeping herself up. "We need a powerful blast Valfor could you-" A black chain went past Luminous who cursed as it was aimed for Mercedes, Valfor immediately tackled the elf queen away and took the brunt of the attack, his thigh bleeding severely. The demon smashed his mace to the floor and felt the ground crack with his rage as it shattered in chunks of land.

The spell circle was broken and the heroes could finally start to move again "You alright?" Mercedes asked the demon as Freud performed a healing spell while Afrien stood in front of them to shield any attacks that managed to bypass the others who were attacking. Valfor said nothing as he took flight after the first aid was done and immediately ramming into the Black Mage's barrier, focusing his attack at one point again. Needless to say it didn't work as the black mage strengthened his barrier at one point as well.

Leaving open to EunWol and Aran who smashed it through different weakened sides. The Black Mage howled in anger as he used his chains to repel them which didn't get far as Phantom and Luminous shattered the chains with their respective skills. "Unlike them, I don't fight fair Black Mage." Phantom muttered as he swapped into a large and heavy broadsword and swung it exactly at the wound where the previous critical injury that they dealt was.

The tyrant cursed and swatted the thief away, but the damage was done as the wound opened again and started leaking out blood. Luminous took that chance and unleashed Apocalypse while wrapping chains around the tyrant, which managed to faze the Black Mage as Freud, Afrien and Mercedes enters the battle and used their respective hyper skills, Astaroth attack from behind while Mercedes's assault came from the side.

As the attack hit and the debris cleared, the heroes were stunned to see that the Black Mage managed to put up a last minute defense and smirked victoriously at the three heroes failed attack as they were left panting. "Astaroth ram it in again." Freud muttered the dragon nodded his ascent and wrapped himself in flames and charged in once more. Valfor smashed apart the defense, letting the Black Mage absorb all the hyper skills delivered to him from the rest that had not unleashed their skills. This left the heroes exhausted as it took a lot of them. "Did we get him?" Aran asked while clutching Maha.

Something was wrong, Freud thought. This battle was far too similar to the one at Ereve it was as if there was something much more important that he was missing, The Black Mage wouldn't deliberately fall for the same attack pattern all over again as the tyrant should have known that the result would have been the same as the one on Ereve should he not have something planned- "…!"

A dark chuckle filled the air as chains erupted from all over and surrounded the heroes, Phantom yelped as a chain slashed deep into his shoulder, tearing deep into his muscle and preventing that arm from use. "Phantom!" the others yelled, the thief clutch his wounded shoulder "Focus! Another one is coming!" At that warning, Mercedes managed to prevent Valfor from being stabbed from the back and EunWol guarded for Luminous. "Do you like this gift petty heroes? Constructing the chains to trap you like this took a lot of work but all you can do is await for your death now like the ants you are! I waited and took your insignificant attacks for this! How is it, to be crushed in an onslaught of chains!"

After avoiding many arrow-headed chains did Freud managed to arrive to have a look at Phantom's seriously wounded shoulder "Looks bad..! Need to patch up now, maybe we'll be able to get your arm back in action again-" "Freud, worry about that later and focus on finding a way out of this!" Phantom hissed as he grabbed the scholar with his free arm and leaped away from another chain attack.

Luminous fired his light magic at the chains hoping to disperse it with no luck "No good, its strengthened by something!" Freud immediately analyzed the structure "It has a basket like structure with a chain overlapping with another chain, while one sustains an attack, the one overlapping behind it supports the brunt of the attack! But the main point is that the chains aren't hard, they're more flexible and damage absorbent. If only we could attack on the outside and inside at the same time….!"

They heard the sound of a door forced open and surprised voices shouted out to them.

XXX

Awhile back before the heroes left~

Evan panted as the small fries lay defeated on the ground. The only ones left standing is the three of them and the commanders but things didn't seem to be in their favor. By summoning Ladon, he managed to bring in another fighter and that was how the brunette kept the battle balanced between both sides however Ladon was at his limit and he was as well, the energy drain was immense and he could only keep the ancient dragon here for a few minutes at most.

Then there was Damien, despite being trained by Von Leon the young demon was still a child and their stamina was no where compared to an adults' thus slowly giving way to Magnus's attacks. Von Leon also had to jump between the Nova and Damien many times to ensure that the young demon's head stay intact. What to do? What can he do?

Evan thoughts continued at a hasty pace as he dodged Guwaru's mindless attacks. The brunette knew that the commanders were in a similar bind however since Guwaru never paid heed to exhaustion they had a fighting machine capable of seeing this battle through to the end even if the other commanders fall. "Wait…..what happened to Guwaru during the battle of the five heroes in the past anyway? If I remember, Luminous fought him and then Magnus came and…"

An idea struck the brunette if this works out things could turn in their favor but if it doesn't, their situation would be bad as the battle drags out. Making a firm decision, he calls out to the other two "Hang in there guys! We've almost won this battle! The opponent is almost out of steam! They've got more numbers but we can last longer!" Von Leon and Damien swiftly turned their heads around, shocked at what Evan had yelled out, he should have known that their situation is less then favorable.

'_Wing it! I'm trying to fool them! Pretend to agree to what I just said!_' Although even Mir was confused, they followed out and attacked with more vigor causing the commanders to stumble in their attacks as the four of them purposely shoved the commanders into each other's way and for an internal argument to break out. "You're in my way get lost!" Magnus growled.

"Well pardon me! You're more pathetic if you stumbled because of a mere swing! You're in _my_ way!" Hilla huffed, the necromancer had noticed that Magnus was breathing much more heavily then usual. The Nova growled in a much more aggressive manner as he gripped his sword harder, the witch was right, he was going to run out of stamina at this rate. Magnus grinned at Guwaru who was still fending of Damien's barrages and leaped in that direction with the intent of killing the commander and gain his essence that would power him greatly.

Evan's eyes gleamed "He fell for it!" Evan hissed and nudged Mir in the same direction all the while feigning a look of someone who just found out about a criminal's dastardly plans. Magnus took a big swing and shattered Guwaru and absorbed the commander's essence, shocking Arkarium, Hilla, Von Leon and Damien.

Magnus cackled at the flow of power but it became shock the next second as he left himself wide open for Mir to knock away his weapon with his claws. Evan leaped out and grabbed the Kaiserium before the commander could pick it up and tossed it beyond the Nova's reach. Damien took the chance to knock the commander out and onto the floor with a thorough blow to the head.

Evan turned around and dashed with Aran's pole-arm and began fighting Arkarium. The old mage fired repeated advanced spells which he either blocked or parried but winced when hit. As Evan got close, Arkarium cast his strongest barrier to repel the brunette but left himself wide open at the back for Ladon to sneak up and knock him out with his tail. Damien leaped off from the reptile's back to give another blow to the head for good measure.

This left them with Hilla who was finally aware of the bad situation that she was in. The necromancer cursed as she backed up "That fool Magnus, falling for his opponent's bait." She chuckled before slowly fading into smoke Von Leon gave the most evil smirk he could muster, showing his entire two rows of teeth as he engulfed his claws with orange fire and pounced on the smug looking female commander.

Hilla screeched at the repeated blows and the smoke soon became nothing as silence filled the room. Damien sighed and collapse, his sword clattering on the floor "We…won?" Evan chuckled "Yeah hard to believe, it was close. If Magnus hadn't fell for that we would've been done for." Von Leon turned to face him as Evan called off Ladon "Another information from the future?"

"Yes, but no time to chat, let's move on. We might still be needed." Evan groaned as he hefted himself up. Mir supported him but the mage still felt wobbly. "We'll need to rest and recover first." Von Leon said sternly before administering potions and giving quick first aid-treatment.

They recovered a little before dashing into the now clear hallway and forced open the door. Only to see the heroes trapped and barely fending for themselves. "Guys are you alright?!" Evan called, drawing surprised but relieved faces visible from the slight gaps in the chain's structure.

* * *

**So well...felt like i needed to show what happened during Evan's fight?**

**Things are gonna spice up now hehe~ I think i have something in plan~**

**But until then,**

**Please Review~**


	29. Chapter 28

**Yes! I've finally got (I think) more around 3k word here! *Claps* Anyway i wanted to cliff hang you people at some point of the story (You'll know where when you read it) But i've decided to be nice ^^**

**MapleAnimal- Haha the end is definitely near but i can't tell if i wrote cheesiness or not but Evan is always heroic! Haha then don't whine i'll see how the story goes~**

**Godigimon- Most people forget it but he's still mortal which means he probably has blood ^^ Valfor still can move (Albeit he needs a huge amount of effort and strength) but he can't fly moving was hard enough XD Really? I found it cool though ^^ And thanks for the compliment :D**

**Guest- I have to agree with you there but nexon never really was creative with its names i mean before the Black Mage was well, a black mage he was called white mage XD**

**Onto the story~**

* * *

Aria hummed to herself as she saw Shinsoo play with Cygnus, the empress had glanced up into the stormy sky and frowned, something was giving her a bad feeling, it had already been two days since the heroes left Ereve, no doubt still fighting an impossible battle to most mortals. She felt helpless that she couldn't help them and the bad feeling just increased. "Mi'lady," Aria glanced up to see Neinheart enter with Athena. "Lady Athena wishes to speak with you." Aria smiled and gestured to the empty seat in front of her, the elf archer immediately sat down.

"I am going to get straight to the point. We've received word that an unnatural phenomenon is occurring at the temple of time, someone had forced open a time portal." Aria gasped at that, it couldn't be…! "We the elves believe that Lady Mercedes is in a bad situation as monsters has been seen continuously re-appearing at the area, their numbers is almost unbelievable." Aria could swear that her heart stopped temporarily there '_Phantom…._' "Which is why I have made haste and teleported here to request of your aid."

"My aid?" "Yes, along with Lady Aran's people as well as the elves we plan on evening the battlefield, what say you empress?" Aria didn't think twice as she glanced at Cygnus and Shinsoo who stopped their games and had been listening in to the conversation.

"Very well, I would provide the ships, we leave right now. Neinheart gather the troops." The advisor wanted to protest but seeing that determined face, he admitted defeat and went to do as she ordered.

XxX

"And after we got out of our sticky situation too." Damien said gripping his sword tightly "No time for whining, Von Leon could you assist the others while Damien and I stall the Black Mage?" The lion had already took off and Mir went to cover for Von Leon's back, chains wrapped around its claws, Mir choose to tug it as hard as it could until it shattered. Evan boosted his partner and Damien with spells, letting the two take care of the attack while he played support, often glancing at the trapped heroes as they almost broke free.

That one second distraction was all the tyrant needed to dodge Damien's blow to the head and slip past Mir to grab at the brunette's neck, squeezing it none to gently "You! You are the pest that ruined my plans time and again! Who are you exactly, to know so much?" Evan glared at the Black Mage not saying anything "No matter, its simple I'll just snap your neck and their source would die." Damien tried to sneak attack only to receive a warning glare.

"How naïve, I thought you were smarter than this." Evan choke out "What?" "Would breaking one branch kill the whole tree? I doubt it, even if you kill me the others would finish it!" "Insolence!" Evan shut his eyes awaiting his neck to be snapped only it didn't happen, instead feeling a warm embrace and he open his eyes to see a cocky smirk and amethyst eyes "You know I normally save damsels in distress but I'll make an exception this time."

Evan snapped his head around to see Von Leon crouching on the floor panting, a hole broken through the chain basket and the others glancing at Phantom in shock at his quick save. The cocky smirk was soon replaced by a face of shock, the brunette felts something dripping on his face only to see blood coming from the thief's mouth.

"Never let your enemy get behind you, a most basic fundamental thief." The Black Mage cackled as he tugged out the arrow headed chain that was buried in Phantom's heart, blood splashed out on the floor. "Seems…I got careless…." Phantom gave a grimace before collapsing on the floor, not responding when Evan called out to him, hearing Freud's voice coming closer as well as footsteps before his eyes slid shut and the master thief breathed his last.

His heart had been pierced after all.

"Mister Phantom…..? No….! What did I come back here for if you die again….?" EunWol still in spirit form dashed over to shatter a chain while the others fanned out, Freud came over and examined Phantom, the mage's eyes widening, Evan might have been imagining it but it looked more of surprise than shock, it faded afterwards though. The auburn haired mage shook his head before dashing to help Damien up, Afrien behind him.

Claws petted his shoulder gently "You said it yourself, a branch falling won't kill the whole tree. Don't despair now, Phantom has taught you better than that, don't let your mentor down." EunWol stated and watched in approval as Evan stood up with determination and fury, the spirit wielder could not help but wonder what the child saw to be able to recover so fast, it was if he was used to it.

"You're right….mourn later hesitation now would just get me killed." The Black Mage growled and dodged dozens of arrows before swatting away Aran, sending her crashing into another pillar. Evan wasn't the only one, the rest had already saw Phantom as family though some might not admit it but right now each were filled with rage and hatred. The tyrant snapped his fingers and debris imbued with dark magic fell, Afrien and Mir took out the bigger ones while the rest dodged, Von Leon slid to the side and gave a strong kick to the tyrant's side.

The Black Mage guarded by raising a bony hand up and the lion grunted as he heard a satisfying crack, only to be grabbed and flung at Valfor which sent the two crashing on the ground in a pile. EunWol called the blade spirit as he launched a coordinated attack with Evan, the blade spirit easily sliced the chains opening a path for them. They were met with another barrier and had to dodge as the tyrant launched compressed orbs of dark magic, letting it scatter and watched in amusement as the two struggled to dodge, slicing it only proved to be a bad idea as it exploded upon contact and not in a small amount of dark magic either.

Luminous easily slipped past the barrier and the tyrant growled in anger and pain as he used Apocalypse on his back though exhausted, continued to launch spell after spell which gave Damien a great opportunity to stab the Black Mage in front, a deep and thick gash opening on the fallen wizard's stomach, causing dark liquid to splash out. Aran and Mercedes deepened the wound with their hyper skills while Von Leon and Valfor attack behind with Luminous. Evan and Freud along with their partners took out any chains that threatened to materialize and strike.

They soon forced the Black Mage on one knee, their glee was a short one when they heard a growl, sounding beast-like and dark. The tyrant was engulfed in a burst of dark magic "W-What's happening?" Mercedes yelped as the dark magic blew her away easily. "I don't know! But keep your guard up! Something is definitely not right here!" Freud yelled back, gripping on Afrien.

There was a furious roar as a large red muscular claw emerged and grabbed Aran, slamming her on the floor, the strength opened a huge hole, the pole-arm wielder had lost consciousness and fainted. The rest gasped and leaped back as what they saw was nothing that looked like a clothed fallen mage, the body was bright red it quite resembled a balrog but where there was hooves or herbivorous teeth was claws and fangs along with a scaly reptilian face and curled horns, its eyes were a complete red with no intelligence whatsoever, they had forced the black mage to turn into something so mindless..!

EunWol went to pry off the iron grip and succeeded so as Von Leon turned into his larger form and pushed the red beast into a wall, a snarl was heard as the lion was easily kicked away the force enough to cause an earthquake. Needless to say the air was knocked out of Von Leon and he too, fell unconscious. "Freud! What IS that?!" EunWol asked as he dodged a punch that was as quick as lighting with enough force to demolish a whole building. "Most likely the result of toying with dark magic and experiments done on himself, even I've never seen such a monster before."

Luminous called his chains and it was like straw to the beast who ripped it apart like it was nothing, EunWol combined his spirits into one attack and slashed his claw down, easily ripping off the beast's arm, only to have it regenerated in an instant. "The regeneration ability is no joke either!" Damien yelled as he shook off debris that landed on him. "Which means we need to aim for a one shot kill." Valfor joined in after Evan healed a large gash on his back.

"We're obviously in no condition to do that! We already exhausted ourselves early and you guys came in exhausted as well, we're already at out limits!" Mercedes yelled as she tried piercing the red beast's thick skin, the attempt proved futile. The beast was still for a second as a flicker light reflected in its eyes, a dark chuckle came out "Do you see this form heroes! I am invincible!" Freud gave a humorless laugh "Pretend all you want Black Mage, the truth is that you yourself are having problems maintaining in control of the dark magic that changed you into this hideous beast."

"You would do well to stay silent, with this form its simple to crush you." The Black Mage snarled "Try me, I'm right and we both know it." The Black mage howled in his beast-like voice and slammed both his fists down in attempt to squash Freud like a bug "Your moves are sluggish Black Mage." Valfor leaped and smashed his mace where the beast's heart was while Damien tried to put his sword though the tyrant's skull. EunWol took the opportunity as the others held the Black Mage's claws and feet down to use his remaining energy to sever the beast's neck, the red beast fell to the ground, its form returning into the familiar cloaked figure that had far too many serious injuries to count.

"Is it…..finally over? Has peace….finally come?" Mercedes croaked out as she slumped onto the floor "Yes it should be, the Black mage has sustained far too many critical injuries, despite being a former transcendent, he is a mortal and can be killed this way." Luminous elaborated and glanced around to see the others on the ground, not having enough energy to even stand.

Evan smiled "Yeah its finally-" "_Child! Be warned! Another portal has-_" Evan gasped as he felt pain throughout, he couldn't hold out as a time portal emerged, with it a large amount of healing black magic flowed into the Black Mage, letting him regain strength slowly "What?" Valfor said as he saw the tyrant get up and cackle, his wings nor his legs having enough strength to stand up and dodge anymore.

"Hah HAHA! YOU SEE HEROES! IN THE END I WILL BE VICTORIOUS! YOUR PATHETIC ATTEMPT HAS FAILED!" The Black Mage cackled and laughed manically, Evan felt more portals opening in different areas of the temple and beasts from the future flowed in, the brunnette's head snapped around to see the only portal that opened in this room reflecting Alpha and Beta unconscious bodies collapsed onto the ground, the future Black Mage casting a spell to forcibly use the other transcendent powers but could not steal them and this time, Evan had no energy to do anything about it.

"_So in the end, I've failed. Did coming back here even changed anything?_" Evan thought miserably. Was he about to be forced to watch his friends get slaughtered again? Even if they had somehow miraculously take out the Black Mage, the uncountable number of beasts that would flow into the temple of time would kill them sooner or later.

In a small corner, the corpse of one blonde twitched, its body shrouded in green cards with a star insignia on it _'I forgot dying felt awful….'_ Amethysts eyes glanced up at clothed back "Heh, talk about the pot calling the cattle black though I would rather not lose the opportunity." Phantom smirked and grimaced as he stood up, his body blocked by the rather large one of the tyrant. '_If I hadn't cast final feint I really would have died. But a stab to the heart still hurtsss~_' the thief internally whined before he put his years of being a thief to good use and silently sneaked up behind the black mage and immediately used Mille Aiguilles straight to the heart, causing the loud cackles to suddenly stop.

The other glanced up at the sudden stop in laughter to see the Black Mage falling down while Phantom firmly held onto his cane "How?! I killed you! You should be dead! Long gone!" the group looked at Phantom in a huge amount of shock even they thought the thief had died everyone, except Freud "You finally stopped acting dead huh? And stolen the spotlight while you're at it."

Phantom merely smirked in response "I've always like to time myself for perfection. Did you people really think he could so easily do away with a Master thief's life?" The Black Mage attempt to call forth his chains was futile as each time, the thief would shatter it with rose carte finale and would not budge from his spot. Phantom stayed in his position until the Black Mage finally ceased his struggles and was nothing more than a corpse. However if one heard properly the tyrant's last words sounded like a curse.

"Finally done…." Damien sighed in relief who knew killing a evil tyrant would be so tough! Phantom clapped his hands in glee "That's great! Now I can proceed to my dating plans with Aria, who wants to tag along?" "Always know how to lift the mood huh stupid thief?" Luminous said but without his usual biting tone. Phantom gave a grin but stopped when he saw Evan and his face still worried face.

"Evan my dear boy is something the matter?" Evan turned his grim face towards the master thief "I don't want to sound bad but with the portal just now that had healed the Black Mage, it also brought along countless beasts from the future." The others finally noticed the loud sound of footsteps, but Phantom still had that grin on after listening for awhile "Yeah and also it seems, our reinforcements. I've surveyed the guards for months now, don't you think I know what they sound like?" Evan's eyes dawned with realization which was confirmed when Shinsoo had used telepathy to contact them.

"Are you alright heroes?" Freud immediately answered "Yes the biggest threat is finally down. Did Empress Aria really..?" "Yes, along with Lady Mercedes and Aran's people they came and are equaling the battlefield, we should be more than enough to overpower them, according to Grendel's calculation though the man himself unfortunately couldn't be here."

The rest knew with that, they were finally done but Evan couldn't help but still feel uneasy, but for what? The Black Mage is dead. However as they each went to help one another a large ice blue magic circle appeared and their feet suddenly but slowly became enclosed in ice "Now what?!" Mercedes yelled in anger. Evan said a few unpleasant words, he knew it was the same spell that the Black Mage had cast to freeze the heroes in time, just as Evan had used his time to perform certain spells this must be what the Black Mage sacrificed his for.

Evan immediately pushed Mir aside much to dragon's shock, the brunette gave a sad smile and mouthed "I'm sorry." Mir's eyes widened and tried to reach for his master but the ice had frozen half his body, Evan knew he had to act fast. The brunette grabbed his wand and slammed it down, a red circle overlapping with the blue one, scribbled on it was countless of spells sequences, Evan chanted loud and clear each one of them and slowly the ice faded on the others but soon accumulated around Evan, the young mage turned to smile at the others who were slumped onto the floor wide eyed, the ice had drained all their stamina.

The ice formed into a grand looking icicle, if they didn't know better, it was an artwork but with the brunette in it, trapped, they could never say something like that. On Evan's chest, the light on the hourglass dimmed and soon flickered off as if it was a fire on a candle signifying his time was up, leaving a corpse sealed in ice.

"MASTER!"

* * *

***Nervously glancing left and right* Haha okay so they are still too busy to come kill me.**

**To tell you the truth the next chapter is the second last one and then comes the epilogue however there are two possible endings for this story so i'm gonna have to pick one of them :D**

**So before the heroes come in to slay me,**

**Please Review~ (Heroes: Fanggggg! Fang: Oh ****)**


	30. Chapter 29

**Whew! Who after so many chapters, this is finally going to end! I might post a side story or two depending on my mood~**

**Love this story- Why thank you but i'm still quite inexperience with this so the compliment is much appreciated ^^~**

**MapleAnimal- Yup but is that how it ends? And no problem for the feels part XD (You really don't need to join them, got a bruise here and another there...T.T)**

**Pekiunai- Oh heyas~ Been awhile, thank you once again for the compliments~ Final bosses always don't like to drop dead so easily T.T (Spoken from experience) Well our dear master thief has a habit of stealing the spotlight (Fang: Give it back. *Flails* Phantom: *sticks tongue out* Nope~)**

**Godigimon- Not a good idea to forget that, its important XD Yes Final feint does revive you with full HP. Hehe~ Yes i do play maple Phantom is actually my main but i'm trying to make it sound more realistic i mean in game you just revive but in real life its like, if you get maimed then you have to re-live that to piece yourself together and that hurts no? .**

** \- Heyas~ As i've said (i think) i don't think i'll be able to include pairings its more of the family relationship fic~ haha yes trying to make it so the ending is nice, but i wonder, did i succeed? Hehe go and find out~**

**EK12- *Sobs* you know, i think you're one of the few people that gives me revives T.T If Aria sees that, she will misunderstand "some sort of SM sport?" Haha that image(Mental one in my head) actually looks cute~**

**On with the story now go go~**

* * *

When Aria and her troops arrived at the final chamber, they dare not to venture into it, right now spells of the highest level were continuously casted, its pressure enough was more then enough to keep the entire army at bay. Aria and Athena eventually ordered to fall back with Cygnus dragging a reluctant Mastema along after being told telepathically by Afrien that the threat was gone and they were alright.

Almost alright.

The heroes were filled with rage and anger as they continuously attacked the crystal that contained Evan in it to no avail, they could not even scratch it much less trying to shatter it. They eventually couldn't even move despite the numerous potions used to keep them going, they couldn't budge any longer. Rhinne eventually materialized behind them. _"Please cease this heroes, you would endanger yourselves if you push any further. That child is already…."_

"NO! Master isn't dead! He can't be dead…..he promised…." Mir sniffed as tears started trailing down his face, Rhinne could only give a sad smile. "You knew didn't you?" Phantom whispered, the goddess nodded "Why did you keep it to yourself then?! Why didn't you-" "Phantom please stop!" Freud yelled, the thief was only then conscious on how he was gripping the transcendent robes tightly in one palm. Luminous gave a slight grimace as Eclipse took over "You couldn't even tell that he was enduring all this and you say you deserved to know how the kid was doing? What a-"

"OF COURSE I KNEW!" Phantom yelled startling everyone, this was the first time the sarcastic and cocky thief raised his voice against anyone "The way he staggered, the way he was gasping for air, the way he was in pain I knew about it the moment I saw him back at Von Leon's castle! Stuff like that just don't pass your eye if you are truly watching," Phantom gripped his pants "So I finally confronted him about it after my training."

_Again. Phantom thought as he saw Evan clutch his chest and groaning in pain, his breathing disturbed, his eyes hazy as if he would pass out. But the brunette merely placed his hand on a nearby wall and heaved himself up, muttering under his breath. The thief finally left the shadows when he saw Evan about to fall over and caught him just in time._

"_Mister Phantom….? What are you doing up so late..?" Phantom gave a reassuring soft smile as he lift Evan up in bridal style earning him a surprised squeak which would have amused him if not for the fact the boy started coughing like he was sick. "I could say the same for you, what happened? Are you unwell?"_

"_No….I'm fine, just wanted some water and sort of gotten lost, things were so dark it scared me a little, it looked like the future that I live in so dark and cold….." Phantom placed a hand on the brunette's forehead, he seemed to be fine, there wasn't any fever… "Evan, won't you tell me what is going on? Please…I don't want to lose something, just not that feeling any more…" He had gotten his future memories earlier that day and the one where he stood stoned over Aria's corpse was the worst._

"_You don't have to know, you don't need to know. Just ignore it alright…?" Evan gave a sad smile as he pressed his body closer to Phantom's "So warm…" he muttered and fell asleep. "Alright, I won't press for now…" He didn't have the courage to push on, those pleading orbs were more then enough to keep him at bay._

Freud and the rest stood as they heard the thief explain, what he managed to observe and everything. Mercedes and Aran had quietly intercepted at one point to say that they were eavesdropping on the two by accident and knew that something was wrong with the brunette. EunWol (Who returned to his human form) marched over to Rhinne "There must be a way to undo this, you should know don't you Rhinne." The goddess turned her head away. Aran charged forward angrily and swung Maha angrily at the goddess who elegantly swayed to dodge "So this is how all transcendents are like?! When they need help they get someone to do it but when others request help they turn their heads away!"

"Aran calm down! You have to understand that the goddess can't just favor anyone!" Mercedes yelled as she tried to appease the warrior's rage though there was a small amount of hesitation in her voice as she said that. "Everyone we must remain calm getting angered would get us nowhere." Aran wanted to rebuke that fact but flinched when she saw red tinted blue orbs, Freud was angry, he was furious, and that itself was scarier than all of them combined. Afrien held and comforted a still sobbing Mir as he glanced up at his master, the scholar gestured for him to stay where he was.

"Rhinne, at least explain what is going on, I have never seen ice like this nor have I heard what before the spell that Evan had cast. I would like an explanation." _"…That spell is the child's very own creation, he knew that even if you managed to stop the Black Mage, he could still put a curse on you, this was your fate if he hadn't intervened once again, to be sealed in ice and having your life force sap away slowly until you are nothing more then a corpse trapped in ice." _EunWol, Eclipse and Freud who knew what that meant immediately turned to look at the hourglass, their eyes darkened when there was no light.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Von Leon asked, guessing what the hourglass meant. _"There is no way to do so, you of all people should know what a life ending means, you cannot bring back what has already gone to the other side. In the first place he was not meant to be a presence in this world, he was destined to be born centuries later and would have created a distortion in time if he remained."_ "So you're saying that whatever happens he would have just disappeared in the end?!" Valfor growled and raised his mace, Aran's attack might have missed but he would make sure his didn't.

"_However,"_ the others who were starting to lose hope snapped their heads up _"This has gone long enough, I have seen you, seen many timelines where the group of you continuously fight, never giving up hope. You have suffered far too much, be it past, future or present I have never seen more valiant heroes. That child has already given up so much for the world, I believe it is time the world repaid his debt to him and to all of you." _The goddess floated towards the large ice crystal and placed both hand on it, the crystal started shrinking in size until it became a small light orb. All of a sudden, Mir did the same and shrank until he was no more but a light that disappeared into the sky.

"_As I've said, those two were not meant to be here, I cannot do anything about that. However, I can reincarnate them here and now this is the least I can do, especially with just mine and Alicia's powers. I have tested your reactions and found that your heart speaks true thus I entrust this child to you." _Rhinne then passed a small bundle to Freud who upon seeing what was in it gave a rather out of character warm smile, the others did the same when they saw who it was.

"Would he remember anything about us, about what he did?" Mercedes asked in wonder as she lifted the young Evan _"If he wishes to do so then he shall." _"Where did Mir go then?" Afrien asked worriedly _"The same is for him, his soul went back to its body here, I believe he is still in the hideout of yours as an egg with the bulk of the Onyx dragons." _Afrien breathed a sigh of relief. Rhinne smiled thinking that she made the right decision when she saw the heroes play around with the young child. The goddess then stepped forward towards the remaining portal that showed a crumbling dark world.

"Rhinne, why do you approach that portal?" Luminous questioned _"Just like that child is family to you, so are Alpha and Beta to me. I will rescue them. They would take my place as the new transcendent of time, I have already overstepped my boundaries by assisting you one too many times."_ Before the group could say anything, Rhinne had already gone, the only noise would be the small breathing that came from the baby Evan.

"Well then, now that the heart attacks are over shall we head back?" Various nods were directed to Freud as the heroes finally trudged out of the hall, many limping as they finally realized how much they pushed themselves and how battered their bodies were, all the while Evan gurgled cheerfully on Afrien's back.

* * *

**So judging by the reviews, most want Evan back alive. So yes i gave you guys that but you know somehow freeing him from the crystal was a bit...yeah.**

**Thus i decided to spice things up a bit~ How'd you like this unique ending?**

**Evan: *giggles happily***

**Fang: Aww~ Anyhows, please Review~**


	31. Epilogue

**Heyas~ Been awhile~  
This is the last chapter, the epilogue. We might get quite a startling guest *shock* XD**

**MapleAnimal- Y-You were trying to use that crossbow on mui~? Yes Baby Evan is my peacemaker so no violence! *Flails***

**EK12- Unexpectedness is also a good thing~ *Takes it and hugs it****~* The transcendent of life and time won't tell me! *Turns at them and pouts*  
*They both giggle* So yeah, they aren't going to spill T.T**

**StoryMaster Rayleigh- Pardon me for that then, i try my best to come up with a good ending but i can't blame you for thinking that way ^^**

**Pekiunai- Hehe~ I love startling people with variety :D Of course i do~ Haha Evan is still there, in our hearts *Double Shot* Okay don't shoot me *Glares at mysterious sniper* no worries, his soul is still the same . Thanks and Yup! My walking peacemaker! *Cuddles them both***

**lolo lollipop- Haha which part? Oh Luminous is made of Sunfire and Eclipse(The dark magic made into another personality to me :D) but usually its sunfire however Eclipse can still come out if he wants to~ So no, its not the BM~**

**Godigimon- NOOOO the mushys! Don't eat them Mushys! Haha its fine~ Freud in silence but also flaming in anger is much scarier then anyone on maple (And earth!)combined, honestly, i wouldn't want to piss him off *Cold chill***

**Now then go on~ The finale of this tale is here! (I'll post some short stories-already thought of a few- after my exams T.T)**

* * *

A month.

It had already been a month since that battle, though it may have seemed longer than that. Everyone's injuries had already been taken care of and little Evan could already walk and speak a little, well, the child did have Mir who stayed with most of the time.

Lumiere was anchored above Ereve and in it, Freud was in the library assisting and filing the paperwork which were meant for Aria but he had volunteered to help. He couldn't help it really, he preferred doing something than to staying in bed and sleep (Despite Phantom's attempts). It was that moment that Evan waddled in.

"D-dad?" Freud smiled at the child before picking him up, Evan had now begun calling the other heroes/ex-commanders by either dad or mom, though it had surprised them at first, they got used to it. "Something happen Evan?" Evan sniffed before hugging the scholar "M-Mir didn't seem happy today. He kept on mumbling on a broken p-promise….Did I do something wrong..?"

Freud's eyes darkened, although that moment where the brunette was sealed in ice was not long, but it pained all of them like it was an eternity. "You don't have to know yet dear boy, but tell Mir that you would never break another promise alright? If it doesn't go well I'm sure that Afrien would assist you." Evan beamed before hugging the scholar again and left.

Freud chuckled before standing up and stretching, he was done with the work and it was about time to go to the conference room in Lumiere to meet with the others. They all sat around the table but there was this comical yet tense atmosphere around them. "So…since we've accomplished our goals, what now?" Phantom asked. "Perhaps go our separate ways." Aran shrugged.

"I'm afraid we have to, Mercedes and Aran as well as Von Leon have their own clans and/or kingdoms to see to." Freud spoke as he crossed his arms. The rest nodded, they knew that and had accepted it but there was one _tiny_ problem. Literally. "So who's going to take care of the brat?" Eclipse snorted.

Luminous was currently away for awhile, apparently (according to Alpha and Beta who met up with them a few days ago) since he was the 'light' of the black mage, he is the only candidate to be the transcendent of light, everyone supported this and Luminous was all for it. Thus, he had to met the one who governs all three transcendent(Which shocked everyone, no one knew he existed) to receive the title and duties. This left Eclipse roaming around in his body.

Phantom smirked "Why he could live with me! I could teach him all sorts of things! Plus he'd never lack any nutrition if I'm around." Mercedes scoffed "You probably want to teach Evan how to pick-pocket." Phantom pouted "You wound me Mercedes." Aran stood up and slammed both palms on the table "He should learn my clan's way! That way he'll grow fit like me!"

Everyone imagined Evan as a bodybuilder….

"_NO._" synchronized answer. "He would do well with me," Mercedes started "he'll be able to learn the elven culture. We get along well with the creatures of maple; he and Mir would be able to communicate better." It sounded reasonable, but then for some reason, everyone suddenly thought about Neinheart.

"No way." Phantom.

"Rejected." Aran

"We only need one irritating adviser in the world anyway." Eclipse.

The rest wisely chose not to answer. Mercedes gave them her gorgon glare and they immediately became silent.

"Now now guys lets not quarrel about this," EunWol began, sweating bullets as Mercedes glared at him. "H-How about this then? We can take turns." Everyone seemed much more interested in that, EunWol took that as a sign to go on "We can each take turns if we want to, like a given standard time period." Freud began nodding "Yes, seems fair." The rest began to agree as well.

"That's settled then, now all we need is to wait for Lumi to come back and then we can tell him~" Phantom cheerfully said.

XxX

Luminous walked through the sea of light, he had been doing so for hours now. He was told to continue forth until he reached a room, it wasn't that hard and now he faced an incredibly pure room. The walls looked like they were made of light, but there was all sorts of elements there, some everyone knew, others a complete mystery.

"Welcome," A warm voice spoke, Luminous snapped around, it can't be….but how? He looked left and right, that greeting was echoed throughout the room. "Dear me, I'm standing in front of you Luminous." The light mage turned around and leaped back in instinct. "Not to worry I'm not your foe, you should in know me. Well maybe not you but the future you perhaps."

Luminous's eyes widened until they were the size of plates, standing in front of him is a man, clad in familiar robes except in white. He had messy brown hair but his eyes looked like it was seeing the galaxy, it was purplish dark blue with small speckles of light, as if it were stars. "What are you doing here? You should be at Lumiere!"

Freud smiled at him and gestured forward, "I think you know the answer to that." Luminous gritted his teeth "If….If _you_ were something similar to a god, why didn't you interfere! You could have done so much to end the suffering!" Freud's smile turned sad. "Luminous I _did_ help. I did the best I can, I maybe spoken about like I'm god but there is a limit. I cannot favour any one human, nor can I remove a transcendent because I deem them unfit to my ideals."

"You…..helped?" Freud nodded "The transcendent of time's power alone could not send Evan back, there were many necessities that were usually not allowed. For example, Evan could be sent back but it could just be his soul. The body is often not allowed because that person would mess up the past, we can't have anyone just doing that. Of course those that managed have the requirements to change the course of time without permission are under heavy supervision. I allowed him direct passage to the past."

"But there were many cases-" "Where it was not the case and such restriction never existed right? That was because when I took up my role here, those restrictions started becoming active again. There was no one in this role for decades, centuries even. That was why this role became forgotten." Freud smiled as they entered a library. "You need to learn all of this, not to worry it won't take long." He placed a few books on the only table there.

It was silent. Luminous tried to focus but became easily distracted, here was the Freud that died in the battle, what happened for him to be able to gain such a role? Freud chuckled as he leaned forward "I know you have many questions, some can't be answered." "…..When we were in Ereve fighting the mock battle against the Black Mage, were you the one that lead the young demon to Empress Aria?"

"Yes it appears that one was a stretch. I did that, as well as a few other things. Like helping the onyx dragon prepare a safe house for them and such. But enough chatter, it isn't necessary to learn what I did." Freud stacked another book on top of the pile and chuckled as Luminous groaned.

But secretly, the dead mage smiled. Everything changed, everyone was at peace now. He would trust the others with protecting that peace, to keep it safe. That was all he had hoped for, he was happy and content as he eyes closed and he imagined the others at Lumiere.

_You have done what I could never have done my successor. Live strong and be proud, you have succeeded in what you sought to protect, what you wished to do. I think that its time to fall back and let the others take care and protect you once more._

* * *

**Haha! Take that! Didn't expect that did you? Freud, if you all noticed, was never brought back. So i'm sure some of you, (I know i did) Thought, what about past Freud? Well here's your answer!**

**Now then past Freud, would you do the honors?**

**Past Freud: Certainly.**

**Both of us: Please Review~**


	32. Halloween special

**Heyas! I finally decided to update~**

**Well managed this barely in time XP**

**MapleAnimal- Haha taste the feels! And i thought the dad and mom was cute too~ Time _is _confusing too hard to comprehend XD But basically that Freud is from the time where the spirit heroes come from~**

**Pekiunai- XD i suppose you have a good reason too, its hard to understand~**

**This occurred when Evan is one year older and he managed to get some memories back~**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

It was Halloween.

The entire of Ereve was buzzing with activity, everyone dashed around to get things set up. Evan stared at the people wondering around with costumes in their hands confused. So he decided to go to the one who had the most knowledge on stuff like this. "You want to know why people are holding costumes?" Phantom repeated amused and also in mock horror.

"Yes?" Phantom shook his head before poking his head into the library "Freud your anti-social personality is rubbing onto Evan! He asked the same thing you did! You two need to get out more!" Freud stared at him with a deadpan face "Yes yes, duke of having fun." Phantom smirked "At least my sarcasm rubbed off you. Now then Evan," the thief said turning to his charge.

"Today's occasion is Halloween, during this time in Ereve people dress up in an attempt to scare other people and something else." Phantom smirked widened with a mysterious glint in his eyes "Something else?" "Yup~ There's a certain monster that only comes out during this season, they're called Candy Slime but they look more like a pumpkin." Evan's eyes began to sparkle with interest.

"You see, the more scared you make them the more candy they drop, simple?" Evan nodded and ran off to tell Mir, he did like candies after all. "Even our charge looks more happy than you, can't you look more excited by this Freud?" Phantom pouted as he leaned onto the table staring at the still reading Freud. "The event hasn't even started yet. Oh right, the others are coming too." The scholar said as he stretched.

"Oh this will be so much fun." Phantom murmured with a grin that could split his face in half.

XxX

Eventually hours past and it was time. The others had arrived at Ereve awhile back, each donning different costumes. Aran was dressed as a Frankenstein, her clothes were torn with a brown shade, her pole arm temporarily changed into a mallet ("I don't think Frankensteins have mallets" "I don't feel right without a weapon.") EunWol dressed as a werewolf, all fuzzy with piercing eyes and probably the most friendliest one the world's ever seen.

Mercedes dressed as a witch, a large ragged hat sat on her head with matching robes decorated with a skull necklace. Von Leon and Valfor went with their usual look because both already look quite intimidating without anything special on while Damien dressed as a knight (A/n: You know, European ones)

Freud came in as a wizard wearing a over sized hat and dark colored robes (He easily fried Phantom when the thief said he already _was _one) While Luminous…..

"Oh transcendents Lumi! There's no other costume suited for you!" Phantom laughed, clutching his stomach. Luminous came dressed with black raven wings, a halo and his usual robes replaced with ones made for priests. Obviously he was a fallen angel.

The irony wasn't lost to Phantom.

"Oh shut up will you." Luminous grumbled while mumbling things like 'stuff I do for that girl' and 'I knew he would laugh'; Though it was weird, he'd expect Eclipse to kick a fuss. Lastly Phantom was dressed in a Dracula outfit, the cuff on his white outer shirt was puffy with and added black vest and cape to finish, there was also a darker version of the hat he wears. Sharp canines poked out whenever he smirked/smiled.

"Alright that's everyone-Hey wait, where's Evan?" Freud suddenly asked feeling his instincts scream that something was weird and everyone twisted around to find that he wasn't there. "Afrien and Damien disappeared too. Wonder where they went?" EunWol mused. "The kid probably was excited about the whole thing and dragged Damien with him. Afrien's acting as chaperone or something." Aran shrugged.

'_Afrien? Is the kids with you?'_ Freud asked telepathically. '_Why yes, they're fine. They couldn't wait for all of you, though Evan had already greeted the others when they arrived.'_ Afrien spoke back causing the scholar to sigh in relief. "Afrien is with them, they're fine." Freud said aloud before clapping his hands and were all business. "Right, Empress Aria had requested that we're on the scaring side so we have to surprise people. Its probably for the occasion but the nonetheless we accepted so we'll go through with it." The other nodded.

The scholar smiled ignoring the earlier feeling, maybe this would go off without a hitch after all.

XxX

Evan (Who was wearing the similar wizard costume as Freud) giggled as he explained the plan to his companions. "Afrien, you promise you wouldn't tell Freud right?" The dragon rumbled a affirmative with a smirk. "Yes, however nothing dangerous." Evan gave him a thumbs up before finishing up the magic transformation spell he casted on Damien's armor. He looked like some glamorous dark knight, but the magic gave him a more transparent and non-existent look.

Afrien and Mir had been transformed too. Afrien looked like a death dragon, his scales a purplish black, his teeth, eyes and claws were blood red and his wings looked ragged and torn. His usually straight horns were curled and had a wicked point. Mir had been made in a similar way including the size. "I must say kid, nice spell." Eclipse hummed as he looked at his skeletal hand, he was made to look like grim reaper, cloak and all. This spell was at a high enough level to look incredibly realistic.

Evan clapped happily and smiled "Alright guys remember the plan?" Various nods "Good then let the night,"

"Begin."

XxX

The heroes had scattered to different areas and were paired up by drawing lots. Von Leon and Valfor went together, Luminous and Phantom, EunWol and Aran and lastly Freud and Mercedes.

"You know this seems like a test of courage." Phantom mused. "Don't be foolish, we're supposed to be doing the scaring." Luminous scoffed. The two landed in front of a bunch of young trainees and scared them, one by using the bats and the other by using a bunch of dark mana balls that looked like ghosts.

"_You lot, who dares trespass?_" A dark voice growled, it seem to echo all around them. The two stood in a tenser stance "_I ask once more who dare trespass?_" Phantom smirked "I wasn't aware that this place was owned by anyone. Show yourself." The voice chuckled "_I? You mortals can't even stand still when I appear. This is my territory and I say leave._"

"Well that certainly does not bind to him, he's a transcendent. Come on, shine some light into this situation." Phantom nudged Luminous only to get a hiss in return, puns right now was not a great idea. The voice cackled as a whirlwind of mist occurred in front of them slowly forming into-

"Holy shit." Phantom cussed as he took a step back, a cloaked man was riding a dragon, both of which did not look friendly. "_I am known as death. Meet your doom human!_" the figure cackled and smirked as he lifted his _extremely _realistic scythe and the dragon roared.

The two did what any sane person who forgot to bring their weapon of choice when meeting something like that, they ran.

"Oi damned thief I thought you were flexible in situations like this, do something!" Luminous shouted as they ran "I'm flattered that you think this way but that doesn't include meeting death himself!" "I thought you said you cheated death many times!" "You were actually listening? Do you know that's a figure of speech-" "I know that!" "Then what do you want me to cheat him at, Poker?!"

The two ran into the castle, breathing heavily inside a spacious training room. "I…..think….we….lost him…" Phantom panted.

Something tapped his shoulder.

"Lumi I'm trying to breathe and think, don't poke me." "What are you talking about? I'm here." Phantom froze and turned around slowly to meet a certain skeletal face-

"Boo."

Phantom would deny a million times that he screamed like a girl and cuddled _Luminous_ of all people, but the light mage himself wasn't any better as there was a dragon that was grinning at him the moment he turned the other way.

They ran again out again but not before they saw something shining, thinking that it was a glint from the scythe they ran faster.

The grim reaper smirked as he hopped onto the dragon and took off, onto the next one.

XXX

"What the in the name of transcendents?" EunWol whispered as he and Aran backed into a graveyard with a black knight on a dragon slowly stalking towards them. "_Where is it…?_" the armor asked as he swayed on the dragon "_Where is my missing soul….?_" "We don't have it." Aran said simply. "That was a bit blunt wasn't it?" The werewolf sweat dropped. "_You don't have it..? Then I'll possess your body and soul as payment! Give me flesh!_" The armor howled.

"W-What?" EunWol started as the dragon's eyes glowed and flashed, suddenly diving into them, crashing into a few graves but recovered quickly after and began hunting them. EunWol really regretted not having his knuckles with him and Aran's mallet got easily destroyed when she smashed it onto the dragon's head earlier.

Aran smirked as she materialized Maha out of nowhere "It's a good thing that I brought this, now the occasion won't be so dull!" The dragon roared and smacked her aside when she leaped and attempted to slash it. Aran easily back flipped and landed on the ground easily. '_That was a light hit_. _What's going on?_' Aran thought.

That one second confusion was all it took for the dragon to grab Aran and present her to the black knight. "Aran!" EunWol shouted but the dragon reacted just as quickly and squashed the werewolf quickly but lightly with its foot, pinning him down. "_Flesh…!_" The armor opened up and swallowed Aran inside. Its presence now felt more solid.

"Perfect." The armor cackled and with a tap, the dragon flew off.

XxX

Evan directed the grim reaper to where Freud and Mercedes was and the dark knight to Valfor and Von Leon. '_It gets even more difficult from here_' and the dark knight actually managed to kidnap Aran, well it wasn't that big of a deal.

XxX

Freud stared at Phantom and Luminous confused as they babbled something incoherent to him. "What?" He said again "As I said there was-" "_Death._" "Yeah that's right, there was-" Phantom choked as he pointed to the thing behind him. Freud raised an elegant eyebrow as Mercedes managed to get her cross bow gun. "Well I never thought I'd meet _the _actual death himself and not to mention a dragon of death."

Death smirked and Freud met in kind, tugging his hat lower to give his eyes a dark shade, his piercing bright blue eyes can be seen slightly like it was glowing, looking incredibly sinister with the sharp upward turn of his lips; holding his large staff out blazing with black fire. "Well? Come. Reap my soul if you can. That is, if I don't do so to you first." The dragon took a step back.

The others were staring at Freud with wide eyes, he looked so intimidating and not one bit afraid at all. "Well? If you're not coming to me, then I'll come to you and suck out _your _soul _and_ find a way to torture it." The voice held absolute certainty, he _would _do it. All the while sounding like he was mentioning how nice the weather was.

There was silence. Until Freud couldn't keep it in anymore and started laughing. "Afrien whoever cast that spell is excellent but I can tell, the jig is up." "Afrien?" Luminous questioned as the reaper released a sigh. The transformation disappeared and all there was was an intimidated Onyx dragon king with Eclipse on top "Scholar, you're truly one to be feared." Eclipse said slightly intimidated and leaped off the reptile. "Freud I never felt more scared my life." Afrien admitted with his claws raised up.

XxX

Von Leon and Valfor was staring at the thing oddly. It came here saying something about needing more souls when they were getting a few Candy Slimes and scaring people but they honestly couldn't feel threatened. "Wait, are we supposed to react or something?" Von Leon asked his partner.

"I can't tell." Valfor shrugged. EunWol started explaining to them once again how Aran got possessed by that knight. "We need to get her out!" The spirit wielder declared as he took out the knuckles he specifically went back to the ship to get. Von Leon stopped him "Hey big guy, why don't you pick someone of your own size?"

Von Leon smirked and transformed, he specifically prepared this in case something had happened and it was the perfect time to test it out. He grew bigger than the dragon, but instead of being completely bare he was covered in thick armor and was equipped with all sorts of weaponry.

"My beast form, armored version." The dragon and armor 'eep'ed as the things pointed at them. They began flailing around as Valfor landed behind the knight and spread his leathery wings. "Why don't you just give up? I can tell everything was an act." Valfor smirked as he brandished his mace.

The spell wore off with a small Mir, Damien and an unconscious Aran on the ground. Mir had a large bruise on his head while Damien looked terrified. "I don't know how enemies can face you and not get shitless." Damien murmured. "Miss Aran's hit huurrtt." Mir whined.

XXX

"Can someone explain to us what's going on?" EunWol said as they sat in a room in Lumiere. "Well," Afrien began "Evan asked us a favor to scare everyone here. But that only worked on Phantom, Luminous and EunWol. The others actually scared _us _instead. Eclipse could come out temporarily on occasions like this with a bit of Evan's help." Evan stared meekly at the mentioned heroes.

"Haha…..well I wanted to try out a spell?" He offered weekly, passing a picture he developed to Freud who chuckled. "Well I suppose we should let him off." The scholar said and as Phantom was about to protest "Its in the _tradition _of this occasion mentioned by someone after all." All protest died as Freud showed Phantom the picture in-between his fingers.

"Fine." Phantom murmured as he saw the glint in Freud's eyes which meant that he knew all sorts of uses for this, for example blackmail.

The group laughed at the thief's pout.

Today was a good day.

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**How was it? I find myself amused :D (You sly fox you *Pinches Evan's cheek*)**

**Please Review~**


	33. Phantom Vs Ereve Knights

**Heyas there! Been awhile~**

**Okay so someone said there hasn't been enough Aria and Phantom lately, and i completely agree! So hopefully this will satisfy anyone who thinks so too! ^^ Afterwards i'll post some Aran and EunWol soon~**

**CrystallizedMaples- Haha don't cry~ *Pets back* I certainly have things planned~ I know right? I can only imagine fluff XD I do so as well, i'm plotting- I mean, thinking of something for Christmas ^^~  
**

**Pekiunai- Hehe well i was kind of stumped for Mercedes then i was suddenly thinking of witches so why not? XD Freud does seem to be an indoor person *Hypocrite* but he should get more sun! Phantom is the cause of most craziness XP**

**Engkeat. goh- Nice question! I shall answer :3 Okay, in my sidefics, Evan has different ages/different amount of memory gained. The halloween one was where he was around ten years old but enough knowledge to cast a decent spell. This one is where he's five and is at least able to talk~ (TwT timeline? What timeline?)**

**PCheshire- Sorry about not being able to give the pairings, but my mind is really screwed right now in terms of pairings *Short-circuited* Haha i have quite the preference for them too~**

**mysteryreader6626- I'm glad you like it~ True, but he's alive in our heart- *Gets smacked by invisible force, a voice whispers very harshly that Evan is very much alive* Pouts, well i couldn't go angst all the way, this story needs fun too~ XD i shall try my best *Salutes***

**Now what are you waiting for? Go on to the story~**

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After the Black Mage had been dealt with and the world had gone into a state of true peace for the first time in a _very_ long time, celebrations had occurred throughout, the heroes were also enjoying themselves but Phantom had other plans. He teleported himself with his cartes and as expected, found Aria on the balcony and away from the loud boisterous crowd. "Not enjoying the party empress?" Phantom asked with a smirk and watched in satisfaction as Aria jumped in shock.

"Oh my, I haven't experienced that in awhile. I _am _enjoying the party Phantom, I just wanted a bit of quiet and fresh air for awhile." Aria said with a gentle smile as she watched Phantom walk towards her. "Were you by chance looking for me?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Phantom chuckled as he kneel in front of Aria and took her porcelain hand into his gloved one before brushing his lips past the soft knuckle.

Aria was slightly surprised by the thief's action but watched as he lowered his forehead to touch her knuckle gently "Dear Aria, I've been meaning to ask you this for a very long time. Would you marry this petty thief?" Aria had mixed reactions to that request, but immediately answered even before thinking things through "Yes, yes I would! But Phantom you are mistaking one thing, you are not a petty thief, you are a noble one who has stood up against evil. Please do not downgrade yourself."

Phantom chuckled as he stood up, pressing a finger to her lips "A simple yes would have been satisfactory love, because no matter what you say, a thief is a thief. And this particular thief has been waiting a long time for this moment, to do what no one has done, a chance to steal the empress's heart." with a wink, Phantom ushered a blushing Aria back inside.

XXX

"Absolutely not empress!" Neinheart yelled angrily causing Aria to flinch, the adviser immediately composed himself "Mi'lady please understand. It is unbecoming of you to marry one such as Phantom! For one thing can he assure your safety? Or another is, he is a thief! Why would you entrust yourself to someone like that when you know he may betray your trust? I may have turned a blind eye to his coming and goings but this is where I put my foot down!" Aria wanted to argue angrily that Phantom was not someone who would do something like that and that the thief had many chances to betray her but didn't. The blonde's devotion was not something that could be faked!

However before she could, in his usual flashy manner, Phantom had teleported into the tense meeting room. "And do you think that you are better at assuring Aria's safety?" Phantom asked with a smirk that made Aria feel that he had anticipated this. Neinheart pushed his monocle up "Indeed I believe so, at least better then you ever could." Phantom didn't seem fazed by this and pressed further.

"How about a challenge then?" Phantom offered, Neinheart raised an eyebrow as the cunning thief continued "I would attempt to infiltrate Ereve on a certain date of your choice at the beginning of eight o'clock. _If _you can keep me out till the start of the next day or manage to capture me, I would admit that I am not suited to care for Aria and would withdraw my proposal." Aria gasped softly but the look in Phantom's eyes held confidence, Aria smiled to herself, things would somehow work out.

"However if I manage to enter whatever place you've hid her in and propose to her with a ring, it will be my win and you as well as anyone else would have to accept this wedding, deal?" Phantom said with a convincing smirk, Neinheart gave a rather unnerving smile as he stated "Under a few conditions." "Name it."

"First of all, you are only allowed to teleport once, that is when you come from your ship to Ereve, _only once_. Second, you must utilize a different weapon then the one you're holding, if that rather uncommon weapon shatter during battle, you would not be able to combat enemies as such you need to be flexible. Prove to me that I am wrong be using a different weapon of your choice instead, also your side weapon of cartes is also not allowed." Neinheart raised his hand and Phantom took it and gripped it hard. "Accepted. One last thing though, no Ereve knight should be in the room that Aria is hidden in." Neinheart knew the reasoning for that and nodded as they broke off their handshake "Then it will begin next week. You are not allowed to see Mi'lady until then." Phantom gave Aria one last comforting gaze as he teleported away, his amethyst eyes promising her of his return and success.

XXX

Freud and the rest of the heroes as well as the ex-commanders were relatively interested when Evan came rushing with Mir who had a newspaper clamped in between its mouth. "Guys read this!" Evan yelled with excitement. Freud took the newspaper and watched as the others gathered around close in enough and read the newspaper "It appears that in the palace of Ereve a calling card has been discovered addressed to the empress, in the card it finely states that in a week, the thief Phantom would appear to 'do away with the empress's heart'."

The others had amused reactions to that as they knew what it truly meant "So the thief finally had enough backbone to propose." Luminous scoffed. "Don't you find that quite romantic? He's making quite a big fuss out there." Mercedes said with big smile. "So that's why we haven't seen him this few days. I need to go congratulate him." EunWol said as he watched Evan bounce about in excitement.

"Just a moment," Von Leon asked Freud "Why go through all this trouble and announce it in such an odd manner? If he just proposed like that and get married wouldn't it have been quicker? Either way the end results are the same." The lion asked, when he married to Laura there wasn't that many problems. Freud gave a knowing, faint and cunning smile "The only reason why which I can think of is that there have been some disagreements in the palace. Isn't that right," Freud turned to the front door "Phantom?"

Phantom pouted at being discovered so easily, how Freud could do that is what he needed to know. "That's right, I already knew there were political problems with this so I made things much easier to decide." The thief said with a shrug "You mean you baited the whole Ereve knights into your game?" Valfor asked curiously, he didn't know it was possible. "Well….not game, I prefer to call it a…..challenge. I actually came here to see if guys have a rapier."

Von Leon didn't question much as he disappeared into his armory and took a thin sheathed sword and threw it to Phantom. The thief caught it elegantly and smirked at the jewel embedded object "You know that I want it back after your challenge." The lion said and Phantom pouted again before nodding his head. "So there's weapon restrictions dad?" Evan asked as he glanced at the rapier. Phantom smiled and nodded as he ruffled the brown locks making said person squeak.

"Can you even use it?" Aran asked as she raised an eyebrow, Phantom gave a fond chuckle "I think its more of, I _haven't_ used it in a very long time." The rest were curious once more at the rather distant tone in the thief's voice, but said nothing of it, there were certain things in each of their pasts that were better off not knowing. "Want a spar then?" Aran smiled and lifted Maha, she had been itching to blow off some steam.

"I'll have you know that I was quite a devil back then with this thing." Phantom said with slight arrogance. Aran gave a skeptical look but took that answer as a yes and leaped towards the thief.

XXX

Preparations had already been made as the thief teleported to the palace, he shrouded himself and blended in with the shadows as guards walked pass by, they seemed diligent and more observant then before, well of course since they had already been warned before hand. Phantom smirked as he noticed that the amount of guards on patrol had been doubled, _its not enough_ the thief thought as he swiftly and silently took out two guards who were lacking behind with his blunt rapier, the jewel encrusted weapon had been modified so that it would not kill and at most would only deal critical injury, perfect for his current infiltration.

The front four guards had finally noticed the lost of the two, but Phantom once more slipped behind them and used the butt of the rapier to hit the guards behind their necks and watched with satisfaction as they fell, body paralyzed and unable to do anything. "So are you going to tell me where Aria is hidden or do I go explore?" Phantom asked with an evil smirk. "We…..wouldn't tell you anything!" The guard spat, Phantom merely shrugged as he took out a sleeping potion from his inventory and threw it on the floor, causing the six guards to fall asleep.

Phantom continued down the hallway, currently he was at the right side of the palace, if Neinheart wanted to hide the empress somewhere there would be two ways, either hide her in the most expected place causing most people to think that such an area would be unlikely to be chosen hence causing people to overlook it or the adviser would hide her in a well hidden place, not giving the pursuers a chance to even speculate her hiding spot.

But Phantom was by no means an ordinary thief or a simpleminded person, so he knew that the empress could only be hidden in one place. It must be a place where it would have been obvious yet there would be complications even if he managed to enter, such as a maze or labyrinth. But since there was no large place to intentionally stuff a labyrinth there for no reason, there was one place left.

The royal resting place.

It was said to prevent thieves from entering to rob the former empresses'/ emperors' valuable belongings buried with them, there was a complicated maze there as well as spells casted to cause illusions or even warp space though it was a rare spell nowadays it was once used before. He initially had interest in the treasure hidden there but Aria was a true gem in his eyes so he had promptly ignored that area. The entrance to the resting place is supposedly located at the center of the palace, although it was rare that people were granted access there, the blue haired adviser would have thought of something similar such as 'just this once the royals would forgive me.' or sentimental stuff like that.

As Phantom entered the room after beating up a hundred or so guards on the right side of the palace did he find himself in front of the door leading to the center of the palace. However the thief did not enter as his mind went over the map of the palace, the room in front should have been a circular room lined with pillars surrounding the large area, Phantom was not a fool to not suspect that there would be hidden guards there as the entrance should have been well guarded but wasn't. Phantom smirked as he opened the door and saw shadows moving about, the thief casted a spell which let a dummy move in front of him first and approached the supposedly secret door, it was a skill he stole from a wandering explorer one day.

Just as he had expected, knights appeared with chains as they restrained the puppet and there were a dozen or so magicians with their wands out, casting binding spells. The puppet would only last for a minute or so, which was enough time for Phantom to slip through and quietly open the secret door before shutting the door again with a resounding slam, causing the Ereve knights to look at the door in shock as the thief smirked while walking down the dimly lit and small rocky hallway.

XXX

Neinheart smiled to himself as a frantic guard entered the room to give a hasty report before leaving again. Originally, the adviser wanted to use the royal resting place as Empress Aria's hiding place but thought against that as she was slightly uncomfortable with entering that area as the only time she would do so was in her death. So Neinheart had immediately scraped off that plan and came out with a new one, right now the empress should have been resting in her bedroom with the other heroes and ex-commanders as they appeared the other day due to interest in the thief's challenge.

Neinheart glanced at the clock which showed ten o'clock at night, if Phantom had truly explored the entire area, it would take more then half an hour after which should the thief found out what had truly happened it would be a rush to get back up here, leaving him only with about an hour. If the adviser could stall the thief for awhile longer, it would be counted as his victory. As the clock ticked and each second passed by, the adviser awaited patiently on the only hallway to Empress Aria's room.

_Time is ticking away Master thief._

XXX

Phantom found something was wrong as he neared the end and was right when he saw that it was empty, he had speculated wrongly! The thief had an odd feeling that something was up when he found no resistance when he entered here as well as his gut feeling. Well Neinheart probably wouldn't do anything as disrespectful as start a fight here so having no guards around here was one thing as there was still trap spells. Phantom gritted his teeth as he dash passed the traps and jewelry which would have interested him before but now was nothing more then shiny stones.

Nobody duped the master thief, nobody! Phantom had ran upwards and made it out as fast possible and took out a watch, silently thanking Luminous for it as the mage handed it to him before he left.

"_You are always late. The best thief in the world couldn't even keep track of time by stealing a watch, I find that pathetic. Consider this a gift, it would be idiotic if you lost because you couldn't tell the time."_

Although Phantom had replied in a sarcastic manner, it appears this gift was truly useful. The thief dashed back upwards to the right wing as the clock showed eleven twenty, he had forty minutes left. There was a few places where Aria could be, but if the plan to the place her elsewhere was last minute then the best place would be ones that was obvious, in this case the garden, the meeting room or possibly her bedroom.

Since there was only one hallway which led to her room, it would be easier to catch him as stationing guards there is easy as the place is small, there would be little room for him to roam. Phantom struck down guards after guards and frowned as he arrived at the hallway, he had half an hour left, if he was wrong then…..

Phantom looked up at the sound of clapping to see Neinheart standing in his path, in the adviser's hand was a wand. "I must say that I'm impressed you managed to even make it here." The adviser stated as he gripped his wand tighter. "And I must remark that you are sneaky for placing Aria here. I thought it would be at the royal resting place but I was wrong. Anyways, I'd love to chat, but I'm sure that you wouldn't simply let me pass, am I right?" Neinheart raised his wand and sent a fireball at the thief's direction.

"That much I can say is true." The adviser said as he pushed up his monocle.

XXX

Evan fidgeted about as he stared at the clock, his mentor had less then an hour left! How was everyone so calm anyway? Von Leon was chatting with Aria, EunWol and Freud was playing chess, Mercedes and Valfor were also discussing something. Luminous and Aran were left to their on devices, even Afrien and Mir were calm! Was he the only one freaking out? Evan had the most absolute faith in his mentor as well, but if he doesn't arrive soon…..

Evan glanced up as Freud chuckled "Evan, you're thinking too much. This is Phantom we're talking about, he would somehow accomplish what he's set out for." Freud said as he moved a piece. "After all, in history has there ever been a time when he sent a calling card and has failed?" Evan pondered about that, he has never heard that Phantom failed in any of his heists, the vast treasure was proof of that.

"Yeah but….." Evan stared at the clock, Phantom had around half an hour left. Freud gave a gentle smile to Evan as he said "We all feel the same despite some of us not showing it. But we all know that he has always been a person who comes through when the time calls for it. That's why," Freud moved another piece as EunWol countered, the scholar slammed the final piece down, causing a checkmate "have faith in him."

XXX

Phantom took out his rapier and stood in an odd stance, his left hand behind his back while the sword was extended out, pointing at Neinheart after piercing the large fireball in half. The adviser's eyes were widened as he recognized that stance "Ariant noble fencing style…! Why do you know it?" Phantom scoffed "I don't need you to tell you, I've never told anyone my past and I definitely won't spill it now." Phantom disappeared as he continuously jabbed at Neinheart, using Mille Aiguilles. The Adviser hastily casted a barrier but Phantom had easily pierced through that and aimed for the joints, causing Neinheart's limbs to go numb.

The adviser frowned before taking a few steps back as Phantom went back to his stance. "So this was why Scholar Freud had warned of your skill. Lady Aran had came in with a few bandages and a foul mood, so it was your doing?" "She may be strong, but I'm fast. Your joints not being able to move and speed decrease should be proof of that." Phantom sprinted forward and kicked the adviser, sending him sprawling on the floor. The thief threw his last sleeping potion before walking to Aria's room.

When Phantom had entered, there was oddly no one there accept a smiling Aria, the thief thought that the others would have butt in at some point for no reason except mere curiosity. Phantom shrugged as he walked forward, taking out a silver ring with intricate golden designs and presented it to Aria. "I knew you would arrive."

"I'm not the best thief for nothing. I propose to you once more," Phantom said while kneeling "Would you marry me?" Aria giggled and answered "Yes. Yes, I would." Phantom gave the most brightest and most gentle smile ever as he slid the ring into her fingers and once more took Aria in his arms and kissed her passionately.

The others who were chucked into the large closet gave their respective look at the scene, being stuffed into a tight spot was not exactly comfortable or fun, but it was somewhat worth it. Though they did feel like they were intruding at what was supposed to be a private moment, Evan in particular was blushing. But on the other hand, it would be more awkward if they were out in the open while watching this scene, Afrien and Mir had to hide out at a balcony. "Are you lot going to hide in there and watch forever?" Phantom asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned towards the closet.

Busted.

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**Hehe how was it? I didn't do badly right? *Flails***

**W-Well then that's all for now, will update real soon.**

**Please Review~**


	34. Moments

**Okay, i know i promised EunWol and Aran interaction but a made a _huge _error when writing the middle part and had to start over TwT So until then i decided to post some fluff that i've written beforehand, Enjoy~**

**CrystallizedMaples- XD well i haven't explain how they do their super abnormal sensory thing but i will one day *Grumbles* if they decide to tell me that is. Well lets see how i'll go with the pairings, i'm not exactly the most romantic person on earth T^T**

**Pekiunai- Well the master thief is a very dependable person after all~ Haha~ The tip of his cane can basically be used like a rapier however, the cane is blunt but the rapier is made to pierce. But then again, Phantom just needs his cartes and all would go well XD And thanks~**

**StoryMaster Rayleigh- I'm glad i didn't screw it up~**

**mysteryreader6626- That's good then *Breathes sigh of relief* Well i'll have to see how, i'm still re-writing EunWol and Aran but there's always room for more~**

**WritingFanfiction- Why yes, i have plans to do so but i'll have to see how it goes~ I do want to post something nice with proper plot if possible~**

**desmondyanjunlee- Well here's the update XD**

**Well? What are you waiting for go and read the story XP**

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_Moments of fluff~_

Luminous did not think taking care of a child would be as difficult as fighting a boss. He was sorely mistaken; often when Evan was with him, the young brunette would cry and wail.

At first the mage would attempt to ignore it but that only worked for about a second; And when he resolved to stand up to deal with it, he was rather surprised to see Eclipse actually holding the child and murmuring something gentle, making the babe laugh and giggle.

The light mage was astonished at the fact his dark counterpart left his body even for a short time as that could endanger his existence. But to see his other self doing something other then spewing curses or giving a shit eating grin was rare, so he often pretended that he was asleep while cracking one eye to view the scene.

Because the first time he sat up and just _stared, _Eclipse looked like he was caught red handed doing something he shouldn't and promptly disappeared, leaving Evan in Luminous care. The light mage would cradle the child and hum a Serenity melody, thinking that the child had two people taking care of him instead of one.

Well, that was until he found out Eclipse was murmuring to the child of stories where he would turn villages to ashes and people in chaos. But that's another time.

_Moments of security~_

Hilariously, when little Evan got scared or terrified of a dream (Some were actually memories but let not dive into that for now) it wasn't Phantom or Freud he went to first. The young child would cradle a sleeping Mir before heading down the hallway to knock on the door where a certain lion was resting.

Von Leon was surprised when the child came to him, murmuring about a nightmare before the lion scooped the child up and gently placed him on bed before climbing onto it and snuggling the child near his chest. The young babe could feel a very over protective aura that came with the man's large build and he would relax and sigh with relief.

Sure Freud and the others gave it off as well, strong and dependable but Freud's one was more smooth and gentle while Phantom was mischievous and playful. Mercedes had the air of posh royalty while Aran's was actually quite tame and only bursting when she want it to and so on and so forth. But Von Leon's was rough and practically over flowing like a lion's, regal and so very powerful.

Evan thinks as he falls asleep, that the lion always made him feel safe, even if he were in the middle of a natural calamity.

_Moments of protection~_

You see, the heroes were very protective of their charge, incredibly so. And when little Evan waddled up to them and said he was off to buy some groceries in Kerning city, they had every right to be worried. It was Phantom's turn to look after Evan and they were still afraid that something might happen despite the man being there.

The thief just laughed and waved it off saying that he wouldn't let a single hair on Evan's little skull be injured and shrouded himself because initially, Evan didn't want anyone to follow him.

Well, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt.

The brunette waddled up to few store vendors to ask for certain items, every shop keeper would give a glint as they try to swindle more mesos out of the child; but immediately scraped that plan when a murderous aura and a well placed Carte appeared. Oblivious, Evan would just take the item and pay for the discounted amount before waddling off.

Phantom smirked as he followed the young brunette secretly, while helping the child bypass a few sticky situations, never revealing himself and being who his name said he was, a phantom.

_Moments of the protected~_

Mercedes brought Evan to her home in Elluel and was quite pleased that despite some of her advisors' hate of humans, they actually softened up to the brunette and her advisor of war would often gush and coo at the tiny tyke. Really, that child was a living walking epitome of peace.

The elf queen would nudge the brunette to her training ground and smiled when he complied, cuddling Mir to his chest; because despite the others having a habit of carrying or cradling him, Mercedes felt it was important to let him walk on his own and would hold his hand and lead him.

There at the training ground, she would shoot and perform complicated techniques and smiled as Evan stared in awe, making cute noises. Eventually the young brunette got her attention by gurgling and pointed to her crossbow gun. "You want to try my weapon?" Evan clapped and nodded in agreement.

Mercedes pondered about it for a moment before swapping her arrows meant for battle into dummy ones for practice that would give no recoil when fired. Evan fingered with the gun for a bit and Mercedes would inwardly squeal(fan girl) at how cute it was. Evan looked up and stared in horror at something behind her before wailing out loud.

Mercedes turned and saw a elf covered in rags raising a dagger just above her head "For siding with the humans, die!" A arrow immediately zipped past her cheek with accuracy as to not touch yet at the same time managed to hit the rogue squarely in the forehead, stunning him for a second.

That was all she needed to raise her other bowgun and pin the elf to the ground.

Mercedes sighed in relief and turned to see Evan with his hand still raised and his eyes narrowed in focus and she gasped, distinctively seeing his eyes filled with knowledge that a child shouldn't even know. But it was gone the next second when he dropped the bowgun and ran towards her crying while clutching her armor.

The elf petted and ran her hand through his hair gently and smiled gratefully.

_Moments of interaction~_

Aran had a habit of fishing with a pole and loved bringing Evan with her. One of the reasons was that for some reason, he could point out where there would be a school of fish and Aran would throw her line there, waiting for a few minutes before a huge fish the size of a small boat bit into the bait and would be flung into the air with her might.

The best part? The fish actually had some spunk and could fight back to the extent that she often had to use Maha to combat them, what better way to fish then this? Then she would roast and gut the fish, needing Maha to distract the young child because she really didn't need the others saying how she exposed him to gore. (Apparently Eclipse called dibs on doing that much to the heroes dismay and disagreement)

But one time she took her eyes of him for one minute, not even five minutes and when she looked back, he was gone. Then a few seconds later she heard the sound of a splash and definitely knew what had happened. Swallowing, she dived in and saw Evan slowly floating on a drift to the main area of Aqua road, where she was fishing nearby.

Apparently he got his head stuck in one of the huge air bubbles purely by accident and was swimming around actually stopping by to greet the seals there. He looked like he could understand the garble the sea creatures were saying and answered back, this happened for awhile until a few younger and more oval seals came out to talk and Evan would cuddle them and giggle.

Aran almost gaped, baby seals of the aqua road almost never showed themselves, it was rare. The mothers and fathers would protect them with all their might and even in death would never reveal where their child was. But then again, Aran thought as he saw the young brunette grinning happily.

She knew how they felt.

_Moments of teaching~_

EunWol stared confused when Evan waddled into where he was resting to lift a medical book and pointed to it. "You want to learn how to heal people?" Evan nodded enthusiastically. The pirate smiled and flicked open the book and read it. "Wouldn't Freud be better at teaching you this?" Evan pouted and touched the pirate's waist where his injuries of battle have yet to heal.

"I see, then lets start." EunWol smiled and explained to the young brunette which herbs were for which and the child paid rapt attention, not interrupting but just stared in excitement and each thing the pirate had said. When EunWol had reached the part of herbs meant for healing injuries, he could tell that Evan was starting to get sleepy but was pinching himself to keep awake, wanting to listen to the whole book.

EunWol smiled and petted and rubbed the brunette's skull until the young child fell asleep in his arms clutching his sleepwear like it was a lifeline and kept murmuring some incoherent things. The pirate gave a fond look and yawned when he realized that he was tired as well.

The maid who went in to wake the pirate for dinner cooed at the image of EunWol resting against the headboard of the bed, one hand clutching Evan protectively while the other rested on the spine of a halfway read through book, his hair splaying all over the place. The maid didn't have the heart to wake them up and so left them be, alerting her master Phantom about the reason.

The heroes were gazing at the innocent scene and let out their respective 'Awws' before deciding to leave them be as well.

EunWol awoke the next day to find that Evan was gone, but in exchange, he felt his wound buzzing and unwrapped the bandages to find that it was almost healed, the scent of herbs filling the air.

_Moments of understanding~_

Valfor was most probably the one who knew how to take care of a younger child the most. His mother would gush at Evan and decided to dress both him, Evan and Damien up in matching outfits. Valfor easily made the milk he fed to the young tyke and was actually the one who taught the others how to do it, much to their surprise. Because when Freud explained, it was a bunch of tactics and when EunWol explained, most of it wasn't very understandable.

The demon knew that what children seek for the most was touch and attention and he gave both it, never failing to sooth him when the child cried or never failing to pick him up when he raised his hands in a motion where Evan wanted to be carried.

Damien did the same too, he followed how his brother did it and was quite surprised at how much warmth he felt when he heard the younger one giggle and laugh. He always wanted to feel like an older brother and now he knew why he wanted to, children like Evan were quite pure, it just touched his heart.

And the two of them would be damned to hell and back then to let anyone who dared to touch their little brother with the intention to harm leave alive.

_Moments of knowledge~_

Freud realized that despite Evan being reverted to his younger self, he still had knowledge from back then and would do something quite extraordinary such as scratch out certain parts of his theories and corrected them albeit unknowingly and mostly on instinct like a 'this feels wrong' or a 'I don't think that's how it goes' feeling.

Although Freud was impressed with the corrections and small kiddie handwritten notes, he had no proof that it was his successor that did all those things. So once after Lunch, he told the others not to disturb him because he was working on another theory and saw Evan look up in interest, it seemed he knew what theory meant. The heroes nodded and went back into idle chatter and a few 'see you later' as the scholar left the room.

He wrote a few pages of incorrect theories (But the thought of doing it again made him cringe, there were so many faults about it that his intellectual side was already screaming at him to go and fix it) before placing it on his desk and swallowed a invisible pill that he commissioned from Phantom a few days back.

Although the thief looked at him with suspicion, the blonde immediately shrugged it off and gave the scholar a few and said if the mage was planning a prank or something he better be in on it much to Freud's amusement and denial. Eventually he heard soft footsteps and saw Evan cuddled the newly hatched Mir, looking around slowly and when he saw that the scholar wasn't around he began waddling up to his desk.

Evan stood on his chair and picked up the papers on it before reading it and had his jaw widen, looking quite appalled. Freud almost burst out laughing at that expression as Evan placed Mir on the side chair and picked out a fresh piece and began scribbling what his instincts told him to, everything in his scratchy handwriting and alphabets that EunWol and Von Leon taught him a few weeks prior.

After correcting everything and felt the feeling die down did Evan lift it up and looked at it, having no idea what he wrote down there before placing it down. He went to pick the bored looking Mir and was about to leave. This was when Freud stepped out and began clapping his hands, startling the poor boy into nearly falling down had he not caught him.

The scholar carried Evan with his left hand and picked up the paper that the boy wrote with his other and scanned through it. All the incorrect theories had been re-written in prefect form and delivery. Evan hiccupped, scared at what Freud was going to do to him because he really didn't mean to mess up the pretty handwriting a few days ago.

He shut his eyes and gripped Mir tighter, the dragon sensing his master's distress mewled and licked his chin in comfort. "Impressive." Freud said after a short silence and Evan opened his eyes to stare in shock at the pleased face the scholar was showing as he ran his hand through Evan's hair comfortingly.

The others were thoroughly confused as to why Freud had brought Evan with him the next time he said he was going to work on theories.

_Moments of unity~_

You see, when you hang around Freud for so long, some of his saintly qualities is bound to rub of you. The heroes were generally quite forgiving (mostly on Freud and EunWol's part, which is why most of the time those two were their representatives) However, there were a few personal rules they had and each of them had a different set.

They all however had two rules that all of them share and practically abide by, one is that if anyone bad mouths their leader, Freud and/or their charge, send them to oblivion. The second is that if they kidnap their charge and/or Freud thinking it was a fine way to make the heroes do their bidding, send them to oblivion. Every single inhabitant of Maple world knew those two rules by heart.

Then there were the numbskulls who still dared to try.

The desert bandits were a greedy bunch that had been getting on the Ereve knights and the newly and recently formed Cygnus knights nerves. They were resolved to handling it on their own though, and not trouble the heroes who were still resting from some of their heavier wounds.

But the leader of the desert bandits had been interested in Phantom's treasure of gold and decided that kidnapping the heroes' leader was an excellent way to get it. So he researched on the times where Freud sometimes sneaked off to get reagents for research and attacked when his guard was down.

Unfortunately, they had taken with them a small child whom the scholar was with that time and decided what the heck, it might be worth much more since there were rumors on what this kid was. (A/N: I hope they wrote their will)

Worst. Mistake. Of. Their. Career.

The heroes who received the note a day later were not a happy group. They immediately placed all their resources to use to find out where these damned people were staying and raided the place in less then an hour of receiving the note. EunWol (In his spirit form) along with Aran, Von Leon and a furious Afrien and Mir launched an assault on the ruined building they were staying at in Ariant and managed to bring it down.

Luminous, Mercedes and Damien brought down the lackeys and in this whole battle Phantom and Valfor stormed in to where the desert bandits boss was quivering in fear, the two of them had quite sadistic glints and unhappy smiles on their faces.

The entire of Ariant could hear the screams of the poor man in nightmares to come.

And all the while Freud and Evan were more upset about the fact that some of them reopened their wounds in that display of chaos and destruction.

Aria was staring confused at the news of the group of bandits that they were after for awhile being delivered to their doorstep, each of them bearing wounds but nothing to serious(Except for a few dozen of broken bones) yet the boss of the group looked terrified and looked like he was going to shit his pants any second now, all the while mumbling apologies and 'I won't ever do it again so spare me' sort of sounds.

Neinheart pushed up his monocle as puzzled as the empress was before ordering their imprisonment.

Since then, not even half brained thieves or kidnappers ever dared to even touch one strand of Evan's or Freud's hair.

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**Fluff fluff~ Its everywhere~**

**Hope you liked it and hope that i don't screw up next chapter TwT**

**Edit 12/3/2014- Omg! Thanks for pointing that out Seliniaki! Fix now ;)**

**Please Review~**


	35. Matchmaking

**I managed to finish this! *Is shot and bricked* Haha i initially didn't want to but hey, why not? I hope this version i made is good, cause i couldn't think of anything else TAT**

**Godigimon- Well yes it is for now, i'm planning on tying lose ends and finish it before properly ending it and start a new story :3 It was a character made up for that purpose, elves are very prejudiced about the topic of humans you see~**

**Pekiunai- I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Drown in the fluff! *evil laughter* and thanks :3**

**CrystallizedMaples- Nooes! You can't die! *throws a revive***

**mysteryreader6626- Why thank you :3**

**Seliniaki- thanks again for pointing it out~ And i'd like to see bandits that would do that for a living, might be interesting XD**

**desmondyanjunlee- i might make one-shots of FreudxMercedes but we'll see, i'm bad at shipping TwT AriaXPhantom will come(probably) I have to see how TwT**

**W-Well, enjoy and try not to flame my shrewd sense of romance *Cries***

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Both of them knew, so did everyone else. So why are these two not a couple yet? Simple. Its because one is completely oblivious and the other won't mention for fear it will get awkward. And honestly, 'everyone' else couldn't take it anymore. "Seriously, those two basically act so love sick around each other and they really _haven't _noticed yet?" Phantom grumbled.

"I, as well did not think any one human can be so dense." Luminous mumbled as he bit into a sandwich. "Oh come on! Isn't it so adorable the way they're acting now?" Mercedes giggled. "Why is love so difficult with the rest of you? I don't comprehend." Von Leon asked the elf.

"Leon you're a straightforward guy, of course love wouldn't be complicated to you." Phantom smirked. "Humans have different ways of courting, its best that we don't comprehend Von Leon." Valfor said as he petted his choking brother. "And I actually didn't think that Aran or EunWol would have problems with this, in fact I thought Freud would be the one with this trouble."

Suddenly there was comedic gasps all around and Freud found himself under the stares of his friends. "Valfor is completely right!" Phantom laughed as he pointed at the scholar. "Phantom if you don't want me to burn that finger off I suggest that you put it down." The thief pouted and complied.

Freud gave a serene smile and sipped on his tea "Unfortunately though, I don't think anyone has charmed me enough for me to pursue as a love interest." everyone dumbly nodded at the sparkly aura Freud emitted.

Now lets back track a bit, originally Mercedes invited the whole crew to a small private tea party specifically for her friends(Afrien and Mir were away on a dragon gathering though). So when everyone sat down in a random order, EunWol and Aran found themselves next to each other. It was awkward at first, but they both got used to it. The chaos started when EunWol and Aran reached for the same thing at the same time and touched each other.

Naturally they flinched back and stammered a lot but EunWol had accidentally used his elbow and forcibly shoved a sandwich into Damien's mouth whom he was sitting next to causing the poor unsuspecting young demon to choke and Aran had toppled over Evan's hot tea causing it to splash onto the other's hand.

They both blushed and went somewhere after that, thus the group's current situation. Which is also why Evan was absent (Temporarily) and why Damien was having swallowing problems.

It was silent at first. "So what do you say about helping them out leader?" Phantom smirked at Freud. "Why am I the leader in whatever you're going to plan? I thought I was 'dense'?" "You've been our leader since then and it won't change now." The thief replied, serious. The rest unconsciously nodded in agreement. Freud gave a fond sigh at them all "Alright master thief, I suppose you have a plan?"

Phantom gave the biggest smirk that they've ever seen and his face shadowed even more when he titled his hat down. "I'm glad you asked dear scholar. You'll see why I'm called matchmaker." The thief gave a dark chuckle causing everyone to sweat drop.

'_I'm going to regret asking aren't I?'_

XXX

The plan was ultimately simple, just use whatever means necessary to get them to kiss and make them realize their feelings for each other. Von Leon and Valfor decided to stay at the sidelines. Von Leon promised to take care of little Evan and Valfor couldn't leave his brother who didn't feel too well to participate. That just leaves Freud, Phantom, Mercedes and Luminous to do the job.

After the two came back from running away, Mercedes had coaxed them into going for a walk into her garden. Her garden was quite beautiful, however it was also a maze. Perfect for jumping out at certain times to create the most excellent and romantic atmosphere available. "Again, why are your plans so simple?" Luminous asked the squatting thief.

"And again I shall reply that simplicity has its elegance. Sometimes people forget that the basics is the best things to go to when lost." Phantom murmured and peaked his head out occasionally. "Looks like they arrived." Luminous nodded and went into a bush followed by the thief.

"I wonder why everyone insisted on this walk?" EunWol pondered. Aran shrugged "Perhaps they thought it would do us good to calm down." EunWol gave a slight blush which was gone the next moment when they stood in front of a crystal fountain, it showed various elves with bows and on or beside unicorns. In the middle seemed to be a large pot. Water spouted out from the horns and arrows, flowing into the large circular pool, the contents seemed to glow and sparkle.

"Wow…This looks beautiful!" Aran was slightly enthralled as well with her slight gape and how the grip on Maha lessened. "Alright now!" Phantom hissed. Luminous teleported behind EunWol, twisted the pirate to face Aran and shoved as hard as he can before teleporting out. Aran who turned when EunWol yelped was suddenly shoved forward in a blast of cartes.

The thief smirked and pressed a button causing water to spout from the jar in the middle, spraying light water droplets which slowly turned into cooling mist the further it is from the jar. "Good, if they continue this trajectory, they will wind up kissing."

Of course things aren't so easy.

Long years of battle instincts kicked in and they both managed to stop themselves from crashing into the other. They were, however, quite close to each other that their noses were touching. Both of them blushed so red that Luminous thought they were apples and leaped away from each other as if they were stung.

"Tch." Phantom pouted. "It seems plans do go awry, even if its _yours_." Luminous shrugged with a smug expression. "Oh can it stuffy pants. It seem they're heading towards the next group."

XxX

The two were nearing the end and it was still awkward to talk to each other. Although he could've sworn he saw Luminous and Phantom awhile back but that might have been his imagination. This time they entered a large clearing, on both sides was a hill of flowers of different variety. Again this made a beautiful sight as the flowers had been watered recently and light was reflecting the water droplets on flower petals.

Aran decided that some rest would be nice and went onto one of the hills and lay down, enjoying the sun. EunWol hesitantly did the same and sat next to the warrior. With Aran's eyes closed like that, the gentle breeze causing the warrior's hair to sway lightly. EunWol blushed and turned to the other side. He knew he felt affection towards the other, but never knew whether the other would return it.

The pirate slowly edged his hand to Aran's slack one(The one that wasn't griping Maha) and placed his hand on top of hers. If she noticed he wouldn't know since she wasn't pushing him away or anything. The peace….was actually quite enjoyable. EunWol remembered that this felt the same when he's resting on one of the rooftops at the harbor.

Mercedes and Freud were ducted at the entrance where the elf was giggling quietly while Freud smiled at the picture. "Alright Freud, work your magic." The elf whispered quietly. "Is it necessary though? From what I've seen, at least one of them is aware of his/her feelings." "Which is why we have a job to make the other aware as well!" Freud thought about it and eventually stood up, held his hand out and whispered a spell. Bindings were placed on the connected hands, they probably won't be freed until the scholar decides to undo it.

Aran eventually woke up and hour later to find her holding hands with the pirate. She tried to free herself but….. "EunWol, wake up. I can't free my hand." The warrior shakes the pirate. "Oh mornin'…..wait what?" EunWol tugs experimentally with his hand but it doesn't work. "Aran, your hand is the one that won't let go."

"That is ridiculous. I'm not using my hand to grip at all." "Neither am I." Silence….. "Does this mean we're stuck?" EunWol questions and got a nod. "No choice then, lets make haste and ask Freud when we get out." Aran grumbles but both refuse to admit they flushed at the contact.

Mercedes grumbles "Shouldn't they be more focused on how they feel holding hands or maybe think about the fact that their heartbeats suddenly increased! Using that they can start a conversation but both seem to be _so _shy! They weren't like this during battle!" Freud pats her shoulder "Battle and Love is different, in the first place both of them are quite gentle and are only fierce to protect."

"Doesn't change the fact that they're dense romantically. And love is a form of battle too!" Mercedes sighs and watch as the scholar stood up and helped her up.

XxX

"So in short none of us succeeded?" Phantom said incredulously as Freud went to undo the bindings. "If you look at it in another way its amazing." Mercedes sighs. "Perhaps it be better if we do not interfere and let them figure it out on their own." Luminous states. "And how long would that take? A millennium?" Phantom said dramatically face palming himself.

"I agree with Luminous. I think its better if nature takes it course and let them figure out on their own." Freud joins them as the two went off to their rooms. "And besides its getting late, we should rest first." Luminous nodded and followed Freud back into their rooms.

Phantom and Mercedes stared at each other and grinned. They wouldn't admit defeat so easily.

XxX

Cawing. EunWol sat up rubbing his eyes to see a crow beside him, he smiled and petted it. "Hello there. You must be Phantom's crow right?" The crow cawed and affirmative and used its beak to pull the pirate's nightwear. "You want me to follow you?" The crow nodded. EunWol grabbed his knuckle and tied his hair before following the crow out.

They came to a stop at a large elf training ground. The crow circled around a bit before vanishing. "I guess I'm here. But for what?" The pirate murmured and looked around. "Did you get called out by that thief's crow as well?" EunWol twisted around in surprise before sighing. "Oh its you Aran."

A large stomp, followed by another. The two stood on edge, "Was there supposed to be any boss monsters here?" EunWol asked the warrior. "I don't think Mercedes would let that roam around so freely." Aran stated. A large resounding roar was heard as a huge beast landed in the area. "A Balrog! Why's _that _here?!" Aran hissed and gripped Maha in an offensive stance.

A distance away, the thief and elf sat watching. "Life and Death situation definitely helps in romance." Mercedes smirked. "Your highness, are you sure a Balrog of all things is sufficient?" Phantom questioned, leaning against a tree. "I made sure that this Balrog was special. It was meant for training and was made by Grendel." Phantom whistled. "Prepared aren't you."

EunWol twisted, leaped and smashed his knuckle downwards, the spirit of earth emerged and gave a good smack on Balrog's head. Aran swung Maha and aimed for the beast's knees, this made it topple down. "I'm not sure what we do with this." EunWol said and leaped back onto the ground. "Do we finish it off? And if Phantom knew something like this was here, why didn't he take care of it?" "Who cares why, I'm just going to finish it off and go back to bed." Aran grumbled. "A good idea, I guess I'll do the same." The pirate nodded.

"Looks like the Balrog got defeated quite easily." The thief smirked, Mercedes on the other hand was smashing her forehead on a tree (She was entitled to do at least this) "Are humans truly this…._dense_?!" She grumbled out loud, was it so difficult to get two of her friends together! "Only some, others are more perceptive then most." Phantom shrugged.

While the two was battling and the other two observing, they didn't know that they caused a tremendous amount of noise, and I mean not just a _bit _but a large amount. This brought out a rather sleepy scholar with Luminous tagging behind. "**Why is it so noisy?**" Freud asked and everything stopped. The Balrog was far too intimidated to move and the two fighting it wasn't any better.

There was this aura leaking from him, Phantom didn't know why but it made him feel uneasy. This aura commands authority and respect, but it was old and powerful as well. Which should not be the case as Freud was quite young. He narrowed his eyes but teleported with Mercedes out when the scholar looked in their direction.

"So why is it so noisy here?" Freud's voice changed into one that sounded like an angry mother and they all shifted nervously. Phantom eventually babbled what was going on. Freud sighed and went up to the two in question "EunWol, Aran, the reason why so many things happened to you two today was because they wanted to help you realize your feelings for each other."

The rest gaped, so straight? "You both feel the same thing but won't speak up. I'm speaking for the rest of them you both love each other." It was quiet, EunWol stared into Aran's eyes, silently asking a question and got a blush with a faint nod which made him grin happily. Freud smiled "Understand now?" Another nod. "Good, I present you husband and wife. Now kiss." It took everyone four seconds to process what Freud said and in that time the scholar shoved EunWol and Aran together. The two stared shocked at the fact that they were actually _kissing _and broke it one second later.

Freud smiled, all sparkles and rainbows before heading back, everyone stood gaping like a fish. "What just happened?" Phantom asked, no one could answer. Luminous snapped out of it and chased Freud, Phantom shook of his stupor and followed.

Well, it was a happy ending after all.

XXX

A small extra~

Everyone returned to their rooms, but Phantom followed Luminous and Freud, curious. That felt like Freud and yet it didn't. He found the two of them talking. "Lord, I thought you said you wouldn't do anything out of ordinary." Luminous spoke. "Please Luminous, just call me Freud." The auburn haired man said eyes sad but it was gone when he next spoke. "And besides you said Eclipse didn't want to help. The Freud here is tired and is cuddling Evan I thought he could use the rest so I just…..helped things move along, teasing is a fun hobby after centuries." his eyes glinted with mirth.

Phantom smirked, that couldn't be more true. But centuries? What did that mean? "Phantom please come out, I know you're there." Freud said serenely. The thief gulped, should he? He felt slight fear, that aura was devastating, it made the other want to obey and those eyes, captivating yet mysterious. It was just that sort of authority the other had.

Eventually curiosity won over and he stepped out. "My my, and I thought I was sneaky." He smirked "May I inquire as to who you are?" Luminous stepped forward but Freud held him back. "I believe you should know." He raised his hand and Phantom's memories stirred, the one of the other world. He groaned in slight pain "You're _that _Freud? You're supposed to be….." "Answers would come in due time. For now I will keep silent dear master thief."

Phantom blacked out and Freud cast a spell that would make him temporarily forget the encounter and asked Luminous to carry the thief back into the room. But when the transcendent of light looked back, the other scholar was gone.

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**Okay so hopefully that will satisfy you guys because i'm not a romantic person TwT**

**Please review~?**


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